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CEN22LA063

2021-12-02 · St. Louis, Missouri, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport SUS

Current FAA registration · N911PH

Make / Model
MCDONNELL DOUGLAS HELICOPTER 369E
Year of manufacture
1987 · 34 years old at event
Engine
AMA/EXPR UNKNOWN ENG
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19870206
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S AC9BAF

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to apply power during the recovery procedure for the practice autorotation, which resulted in a hard landing.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that he intended to perform a straight-in autorotation that would terminate with a power on recovery procedure over the runway. The autorotation was performed without incident; however, the pilot did not advance the engine power in time for the recovery. The helicopter impacted the runway hard and came to rest upright on the skids. During the impact sequence, the main rotor blades contacted and severed the tail boom, which resulted in substantial damage. The pilot reported there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe and engine that would have precluded normal operations. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
  • — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Lack of action-Pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2021_CEN22LA063.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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