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DEN92LA036

1992-02-29 · LEADVILLE, Colorado, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport LXV

N8631E has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (BOMBARDIER INC CL-600-2B19, built 2002), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT MISJUDGING THE DESCENT RATE AND CONSEQUENTLY DELAYING THE FLARE. A FACTOR WAS: DOWNDRAFT.

Factual narrative

THIS WAS ONE OF A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTAL TEST FLIGHTS LEADING TOWARDS FAA CERTIFICATION OF THE MODIFIED HELICOPTER. DATA POINTS FOR THE HEIGHT VELOCITY CURVE HAD BEEN COLLECTED AND THE PILOT WAS ATTEMPTING TO CONFIRM THEIR ACCURACY. AT 46 KNOTS AND 400 FEET AGL, THE PILOT MADE AN INTENTIONAL AUTOROTATION. HE SAID THE SINK RATE WAS HIGHER THAN PREVIOUSLY NOTED, AND HEAVY ROTOR BLADE STALL MADE THE FLARE INEFFECTIVE. THE PILOT SAID A DOWNDRAFT MAY HAVE PRECIPITATED THE ACCIDENT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_DEN92LA036.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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