Pilot Debrief

BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON CANADA 505 near Lago Vista, TX — 2024-11-11

Final reportCEN25LA084
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Date
2024-11-11
Location
Lago Vista, TX, USA
Airport
RYW
Aircraft
BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON CANADA 505
Registration
N1243Y
Category
Helicopter
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0

Probable cause

The flight instructor’s improper recovery from a practice autorotation which resulted in a hard landing.

NTSB narrative

While conducting an instructional flight, the flight instructor reported that he and the student pilot were practicing straight-in autorotation approaches in the helicopter with a power recovery. The helicopter was configured with a throttle control switch rather than a twistable throttle control. During the fifth autorotation approach, the flight instructor forgot to move the throttle control from “Idle” to “Fly” prior to flaring the helicopter. The helicopter descended and landed hard on the runway. During the hard landing, the helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tailboom. The flight instructor reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures that contributed to the accident.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 2 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents2

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