NTSB CAROL · Event
Event ERA21LA117
Registry · N474AT
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
ROBINSON HELICOPTER R22 BETA
Year of manufacture
1998 · 23 years old at event
TCDS
H10WE · ROBINSON HELICOPTER CO
Engine
LYCOMING O&VO-360 SER (180 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19981112
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A5D008
Registrant of record
AIRMEN TESTING & TRAINING INC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The examiner’s failure to arrest the helicopter descent during a simulated engine failure maneuver and the flight instructor’s inadequate remedial action, which resulted in a hard landing.
Factual narrative
The purpose of the flight was for the examiner to conduct an examination of the assistant chief flight instructor applicant in a helicopter. The last maneuver that they were testing for the day was an engine failure on takeoff. The examiner assumed control of the helicopter from the flight instructor and began the takeoff. He asked the flight instructor to guard the flight controls before he announced a simulated engine failure and initiated the glide phase of the autorotation. When the examiner attempted to arrest the rate of descent by increasing engine power, he was unable to stop the helicopter prior to it impacting the ground. During the landing the helicopter’s skids and fuselage were substantially damaged. The pilots reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).
- — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Descent rate-Not attained/maintained
- — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Designated examiner
- — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Delayed action-Instructor/check pilot
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2021_ERA21LA117.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (engine failure). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- arXiv 2022 · arXiv preprint
Multi-level Adaptation for Automatic Landing with Engine Failure under Turbulent Weather
This paper addresses efficient feasibility evaluation of possible emergency landing sites, online navigation, and path following for automatic landing under engine-out failure subject to turbulent wea…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Simulation of Liquid Rocket Engine Failure Propagation Using Self-Evolving Scenarios
Traditional probabilistic risk assessment approaches often require failure scenarios to be explicitly defined through event sequences that are then quantified as part of the integrated analysis.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Rocket engine failure detection using system identification techiques
The theoretical foundation and application of two univariate failure detection algorithms to Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) test firing data is presented.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Rocket engine failure detection using system identification techniques
The theoretical foundation and application of two univariate failure detection algorithms to Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) test firing data is presented.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Technical Memorandum (TM)
A simulator investigation of engine failure compensation for powered-lift STOL aircraft
A piloted simulator investigation of various engine failure compensation concepts for powered-lift STOL aircraft was carried out at the Ames Research Center.
- Semantic Scholar 2019 · Article (AIAA Scitech 2019 Forum)
Impact of Engine Failure Constraints on the Initial Sizing of Hybrid-Electric GA Aircraft
Potential advantages of hybrid-electric aircraft are fuel savings, lower emissions, and reduced noise. Since these aircraft generally apply multiple power sources, they can also be designed to sustain…
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗