Event CEN14LA022

Factual narrative

On October 23, 2013, about 0830 central daylight time, a Bell OH-58C, N911CC, impacted terrain during a hard landing on a field near Omaha, Texas. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tail boom and main rotor blade(s). The commercial pilot was uninjured. The helicopter was registered to an individual and operated by Reynolds Aviation under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 as an aerial application flight that was not operating on a flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that originated from Winnsboro, Texas, at 0700 and was destined for Omaha, Texas. The pilot stated that he was approaching to land with a load of chemical when the left skid dug into high grass and loose dirt. The helicopter spun around, and the main rotor contacted the tail boom. The pilot reported that there was no mechanical malfunction/failure with the helicopter. The pilot stated that, as the airplane was on approach to land on a field during an aerial application flight, the helicopter's left skid dug into the field's high grass and loose dirt. The helicopter spun around, and the main rotor contacted the tail boom. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-(general)-Contributed to outcome - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-(general)-Not attained/maintained - C
• C Personnel issues-Task performance-(general)-(general)-Pilot - C