NTSB DEN89LA120 — 1989-05-17 · COLORADO SPGS, Colorado, United States

Current FAA registration · N624H

Make / Model: ENSTROM HELICOPTER CORP 280C
Year of manufacture: 1977 · 12 years old at event
Engine: LYCOMING HI0-360 SER (205 hp)
Seats / Engines: 3 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19770418
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A825C8

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N624H Enstrom 280C Minor

Probable cause & findings

INADEQUATE COMPENSATION FOR THE WIND CONDITIONS BY THE PILOT. THE HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE AND WIND CONDITIONS WERE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS.

Factual narrative

AFTER RETURNING FROM A LOCAL PHOTO FLT, THE PLT MADE AN APCH TO A HOVER LANDING NEAR THE APCH END OF RWY 17. HE WAS THEN CLEARED TO CROSS THE RWY & PROCEED (SOUTH-SOUTHEAST) TO THE INTENDED PARKING AREA. AS HE STARTED FORWARD & BEGAN A CLIMB, HE NOTICED WHAT HE BELIEVED WAS A PARTIAL POWER LOSS & HE INITIATED A HOVERING AUTOROTATION. THE HELICOPTER TOUCHED DOWN WITH FORWARD SPEED & SLID TO A STOP, THEN ROCKED BACKWARD & TO THE LEFT, DAMAGING THE MAIN & TAIL ROTOR BLADES. A POST ACDNT ENG RUN WAS MADE, BUT NO REASON WAS FOUND FOR THE RPRTD POWER LOSS. THE PREVAILING WIND WAS FROM 340 DEG AT 10 KTS. THE PLT RPRTD THE WIND WAS GUSTING TO 20 KTS. DENSITY ALTITUDE WAS CALCULATED TO BE 7300 FT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_DEN89LA120.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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