Skip to content

DEN08CA046

2007-12-21 · Pueblo, Colorado, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport KPUB

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control resulting in a hard landing.

Factual narrative

According to the written statement submitted by the flight instructor, the commercial student was performing a "hover autorotation from a skid height of one foot." The instructor wrote that yaw was minimal and the helicopter drifted slightly to the left. The helicopter "touched down "left skid first, then briefly hopped to the left. The student then taxied the helicopter to parking. A postflight examination of the helicopter revealed that the vertical frame tube was bowed and the bottom cross member was bent. The instructor reported no anomalies with any of the helicopter systems. According to the flight instructor, the commercial student was performing a hover autorotation from a skid height of one foot. The instructor wrote that yaw was minimal and the helicopter drifted slightly to the left. The helicopter touched down left skid first, then briefly hopped to the left. The student then taxied the helicopter to parking. A postflight examination of the helicopter revealed substantial damage. The instructor reported no anomalies with any of the helicopter systems. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2007_DEN08CA046.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.