NTSB CAROL · Event
Event CHI07CA077
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The flight instructor's inadequate remedial action following a loss of control in flight. A factor to the accident is that the dual student did not maintain directional control of the helicopter while manuevering, which subsequently caused the instructor to lose control of the helicopter.
Factual narrative
The helicopter spun to the left 2 to 2.5 times during lift off, contacted the ground in a level attitude then spun about 180 degrees causing damage to one of the skids and the tailboom. The instructor reported that he let the student have as much control during lift off that he, the instructor, was comfortable allowing. The instructor reported that he told the student to "raise the collective slowly and correct for any movement." The instructor stated that while lifting off, the helicopter "started to spin to the left. I think I over reacted to the controls, then over corrected." The instructor reported the helicopter spun rapidly two and a half full turns before contact with the ground. The instructor stated that upon contact with the ground "he had all of the controls." The instructor reported the helicopter spun again, about 180-270 degrees, before coming to a rest. The helicopter spun to the left 2 to 2.5 times during liftoff, contacted the ground in a level attitude then spun about 180 degrees causing damage to one of the skids and the tailboom. The instructor reported that he let the student have as much control during liftoff that he, the instructor, was comfortable allowing. The instructor reported that he told the student to "raise the collective slowly and correct for any movement." The instructor stated that while lifting off, the helicopter "started to spin to the left. I think I over reacted to the controls, then over corrected." The instructor reported the helicopter spun rapidly two and a half full turns before contact with the ground. The instructor stated that upon contact with the ground "he had all of the controls." The instructor reported the helicopter spun again, about 180-270 degrees, before coming to a rest. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2007_CHI07CA077.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
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Related research
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Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (loss of control). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
A Scoping Review of Aviation Loss of Control Inflight Research
Loss of control – inflight (LOC-I) contributes to aircraft accidents at unacceptably high rates. Significant industry efforts and research have aimed to improve LOC-I prevention, detection, and recove…
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article
Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I) — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary comprehensive knowledge-base entry on Loss of Control In-Flight — definitions, contributing factors, accident case studies (Air France 447, Colgan 3407), and prevention strategies.
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2022 · Accident report
Loss of Control on Takeoff in Icing Conditions — Citation 560XL
Cessna Citation 560XL fatal takeoff icing accident, March 2018. Investigation of a Citation 560XL loss-of-control takeoff accident in icing conditions.
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Aviation)
ANALYSIS OF GENERAL AVIATION FIXED-WING AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS INVOLVING INFLIGHT LOSS OF CONTROL USING A STATE-BASED APPROACH
Inflight loss of control (LOC-I) is a significant cause of General Aviation (GA) fixed-wing aircraft accidents. The United States National Transportation Safety Board’s database provides a rich source…
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Presentation
Use of Design of Experiments in Determining Neural Network Architectures for Loss of Control Detection
Abstract—We describe empirical methods for selecting a neural network architecture to implement belief state inference on generic commercial transport aircraft.
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Conference Paper
Use of Design of Experiments in Determining Neural Network Architectures for Loss of Control Detection
We describe empirical methods for selecting a neural network architecture to implement belief state inference on generic commercial transport aircraft.
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