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CEN14CA367

2014-07-15 · Grand Praire, Texas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport KGPM

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The flight instructor's inadequate supervision during a practice autorotation. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's hard landing during a practice autorotation.

Factual narrative

The flight was scheduled as recurrent training in helicopters; the foreign rated pilot was accompanied by a flight instructor, and an interpreter and observer who were seated in the back seats. After a series of maneuvers, the foreign pilot conducted a hovering autorotation, following directions from the flight instructor which were translated by the interpreter. During the autorotation, the helicopter yawed slightly right and settled to the ground. The instructor and observer noted that the landing did not feel that hard, but more like a firm or rough landing. The training flight continued with several other autorotations. During a post flight inspection of the helicopter, several wrinkles were found in the tail boom of the helicopter. Further examination of the helicopter revealed that the tail boom had sustained substantial damage. The flight was scheduled as recurrent training in helicopters; the foreign rated pilot was accompanied by a flight instructor, and an interpreter and observer who were seated in the back seats. After a series of maneuvers, the foreign pilot conducted a hovering autorotation, following directions from the flight instructor which were translated by the interpreter. During the autorotation, the helicopter yawed slightly right and settled to the ground. The instructor and observer noted that the landing did not feel that hard, but more like a firm or rough landing. The training flight continued with several other autorotations. During a post flight inspection of the helicopter, several wrinkles were found in the tail boom of the helicopter. Further examination of the helicopter revealed that the tail boom had sustained substantial damage. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring other person-Instructor/check pilot - C
  • F Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - F
  • — Personnel issues-Experience/knowledge-Experience/qualifications-Qualification/certification-Pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2014_CEN14CA367.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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