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ERA14CA217

2014-05-01 · Frederick, Maryland, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport FDK

N802CP has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (CESSNA 182T, built 2021), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the hover, and the flight instructors lack of remedial action, resulting in a dynamic rollover and structural damage to the helicopter.

Factual narrative

According to the flight instructor, his student was practicing hover operations over a grassy area of the airport. This was the first flight in a helicopter for the student pilot. The helicopter drifted to the right while descending. The right skid contacted the grass and the helicopter rolled to the right and the main rotor blades contacted the ground. The helicopter continued to roll over and came to rest on its right side. An inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration examined the helicopter and confirmed substantial damage to the fuselage, tail boom, and main rotor blades. The pilots reported no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. According to the flight instructor, his student was practicing hover operations over a grassy area of the airport. This was the first flight in a helicopter for the student pilot. The helicopter drifted to the right while descending. The right skid contacted the grass and the helicopter rolled to the right and the main rotor blades contacted the ground. The helicopter continued to roll over and came to rest on its right side. An inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration examined the helicopter and confirmed substantial damage to the fuselage, tail boom, and main rotor blades. The pilots reported no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot - C
  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Lack of action-Instructor/check pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2014_ERA14CA217.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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