FTW87LA195

1987-08-12 · NEW IBERIA, Louisiana, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport ARA

Aircraft involved

N2764F Bell 206L-1 None

Factual narrative

CREW PERFORMING PRACTICE TOUCHDOWN AUTOROTATIONS DURING A TRNG FLT. ON 4TH AUTOROTATION, ACFT TOUCHED DOWN WITH EXCESS GRND SPEED AND SKIDDED FOR APPROX 75' ON THE WET, SOFT GRASS. WHEN CREW APPLIED POWER BACK TO FLIGHT RPM THEY HEARD A GRINDING SOUND AND FELT A VIBRATION. VISUAL INSP REVEALED THAT THE TAILBOOM HAD SEPARATED AFT OF THE ATTACHMENTS DUE TO RESONANCE. THIS ACFT IS SUBJECT TO RESONANCE IF ROTOR RPM IS ALLOWED TO DECAY BELOW 70% DURING TOUCHDOWN AUTOROTATIONS OR DURING LENGTHY GROUND RUNS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1987_FTW87LA195.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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