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CEN24LA343

2024-09-06 · Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport GFK

Current FAA registration · N896J

Make / Model
ROBINSON HELICOPTER R44
Year of manufacture
2022 · 2 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING O-540-F1B5 (260 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20220225
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S AC5C66

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot’s failure to maintain helicopter control which resulted in impact with the ground. Contributing to the outcome was the flight instructor’s delayed remedial action.

Factual narrative

The flight instructor reported that she was teaching her student to hover as part of a flight lesson. She transferred the flight controls to her student but continued to monitor the cyclic, collective, and tail rotor controls. The helicopter drifted aft and to the right while pitching nose up, as the student increased aft cyclic. The flight instructor attempted to correct by increasing forward cyclic but the tail struck the ground. The flight instructor stated that the helicopter began to violently vibrate, and she heard a grinding noise. As she lowered the collective, the helicopter impacted the ground, and the right skid broke off. The helicopter rolled over and came to rest on its right side, sustaining substantial damage to the main rotor system, tail boom, and tail rotor system. The flight instructor reported that there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operations. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-(general)-(general)-Not attained/maintained
  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot
  • — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Delayed action-Instructor/check pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2024_CEN24LA343.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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