NTSB CHI90LA020 — 1989-10-29 · PLYMOUTH, Indiana, United States

N500CD has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (ECLIPSE AVIATION CORP EA500, built 2007), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

N500CD Bell 47G-2A-1 None

Probable cause & findings

THE STUDENT'S IMPROPER USE OF THE CYCLIC CONTROL AND THE INSTRUCTOR'S (CFI'S) INADEQUATE SUPERVISION.

Factual narrative

DURING A BIENNIAL FLT REVIEW (BFR) FOR THE LEFT SEAT PLT, SVRL PRACTICE AUTOROTATIONS WERE PERFORMED. THE CFI (RIGHT SEAT PLT) RPRTD THAT THE BFR WAS PROGRESSING VERY WELL UNTIL THE HELICOPTER TOUCHED DOWN ON A SOD TAXIWAY AFTER THE FINAL AUTOROTATION. HE RPRTD THE TOUCHDOWN WAS SOFT, BUT IMMEDIATELY AFTER TOUCHDOWN, AFT CYCLIC WAS APPLIED . . .' THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES CAME IN CONTACT WITH THE TAIL BOOM & SEVERED IT. THE CFI RPRTD THE ACCIDENT WAS UNEXPECTED & OCCURRED SO QUICKLY THAT HE WAS UNABLE TO INTERVENE. THE BFR PLT HAD A TOTAL FLT TIME OF 344 HRS WITH 310 HRS IN THIS MAKE & MODEL. THE CFI STATED THE WX WAS CLEAR WITH CALM WINDS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_CHI90LA020.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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