Accident Hughes 369A N369V,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 292318
 
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Date:Friday 19 May 2006
Time:12:00 LT
Type:Silhouette image of generic H500 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Hughes 369A
Owner/operator:Applebee Aviaiton Inc.
Registration: N369V
MSN: 191021
Year of manufacture:1969
Engine model:Allison 250-C16
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Category:Accident
Location:Banks, Oregon -   United States of America
Phase: Unknown
Nature:Training
Departure airport:Portland-Hillsboro Airport, OR (HIO/KHIO)
Destination airport:Banks, OR (4S4)
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
During the practical test for a flight instructor certificate, the pilot was asked by the examiner to perform a 180 degree autorotation with a power recovery. He entered the autorotation, executed the 180 degree turn, and initiated the flare at approximately 50 feet agl. He stated that he "failed to roll on enough throttle simultaneously with the flare as the rotor RPM started to decay." He further stated that the examiner told him, "power, power, power," which he interpreted as meaning pull up on the collective. The addition of pitch further decayed the rotor RPM. The helicopter made "a firm level landing," and the main rotor contacted and severed the tail boom. The pilot explained that in his training, he had learned to associate the term "power" with "pull power on the collective" and the term "roll on" with "roll on the throttle." When the examiner told him, "power, power, power," he reacted by applying collective, but the examiner was wanting him to add power by rolling on the throttle. The pilot stated that the accident could have been prevented by maintaining rotor RPM during the power recovery and "proper understanding of commands between DPE [examiner] and PIC."

Probable Cause: The pilot's failure to maintain rotor rpm while performing a simulated autorotation, which resulted in a hard landing. A contributing factor was the pilot's incorrect interpretation of the examiner's instruction to add power.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: SEA06CA102
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 4 months
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB SEA06CA102

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
08-Oct-2022 17:15 ASN Update Bot Added

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