Pilot Debrief

ROBINSON R22 - BETA near Moscow Mills, MO — 2014-06-19

Final reportCEN14LA313
Sign in to save
Date
2014-06-19
Location
Moscow Mills, MO, USA
Airport
M71
Aircraft
ROBINSON R22 - BETA
Registration
N784SH
Category
Helicopter
Highest injury
Minor
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Maneuvering

Probable cause

The flight instructor’s delayed remedial action to correct the student pilot’s use of an excessive descent rate during a practice autorotation, which resulted in a hard landing.

NTSB narrative

The flight instructor reported that, about 1 hour into the instructional flight, the student pilot began to perform a practice 180-degree autorotation. While the helicopter was about 100 ft above ground level, the flight instructor noted that the helicopter was descending at an excessive rate, so he took the flight controls and added power in an attempt to flare the helicopter before it touched down. However, the flight instructor was unable to arrest the descent rate, and the helicopter impacted the ground hard. Examination of the helicopter revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Loss of control
First missed decision gate
Instructor could have intervened earlier during the autorotation maneuver.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 4 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents4

Related mishaps