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CHI00LA131

2000-05-03 · ABERDEEN, South Dakota, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport ABR

N456EM has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (VAN'S AIRCRAFT RV-9A, built 2013), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

the ground resonance encountered by the pilot.

Factual narrative

On May 3, 2000, at 1755 central daylight time, a Hughes 269C, N456EM, owned and piloted by a commercial pilot, received substantial damage on impact with terrain during landing at Aberdeen Regional Airport (ABR), Aberdeen, South Dakota. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The 14 CFR Part 91 proficiency flight was not operating on a flight plan. The pilot reported no injuries. The local flight originated ABR at 1730. In a written statement, the pilot reported, "...When landing, a condition I recognized as ground resonance began to exist. I then put the collective down and the condition did not seem to improve so I tried to lift the ship off the ground but rotor speed too slow". The helicopter impacted terrain during landing after entering into a ground resonance condition.. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2000_CHI00LA131.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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