McDonnell Douglas 369E N8372F

Summary

On 30 September 2024 at about 11:30 local time, a McDonnell Douglas 369E registered N8372F, operated by City of Houston Police Department, was involved in an accident near Manvel, Texas, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

30 September 2024 at 11:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Manvel, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Wolfe Airpark (3T2)

Coordinates

29.4792, -95.3261

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas 369E

Registration

N8372F

Category

Helicopter

Year built

1991

Engines

1

Operator

City of Houston Police Department

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN24LA377

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s improper recovery from a practice autorotation which resulted in a hard landing. Contributing to the accident was the instructor’s inadequate supervision of the pilot receiving instruction.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

During an instructional flight, the operator reported that during the practice autorotation, the pilot receiving instruction held the flare for too long and did not level the helicopter before touchdown. The helicopter landed hard and struck the tail on the ground which resulted in substantial damage to the empennage, tail boom, and tail rotor drive system. The operator reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions of failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.