NTSB CAROL · Event
Event DEN07CA072
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The instructor's failure to maintain aircraft control. A contributing factor was the windshear.
Factual narrative
According to the flight instructor, he was demonstrating a "full-down" autorotation into a 20-knot headwind. About 20 feet above the ground, the wind diminished and the rotor RPM decayed. The pilot flared the helicopter, but it impacted the taxiway at 40 knots and at a 1,000 feet per minute descent rate. The helicopter bounced and the main rotor blades struck the tail boom. A systems examination revealed no anomalies. According to the flight instructor, he was demonstrating a "full-down" autorotation into a 20-knot headwind. About 20 feet above the ground, the wind diminished and the rotor RPM decayed. The pilot flared the helicopter, but it impacted the taxiway at 40 knots and at a 1,000 feet per minute descent rate. The helicopter bounced and the main rotor blades struck the tail boom. A systems examination revealed no anomalies. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2007_DEN07CA072.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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