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GAA15CA200

2015-07-23 · Corona, California, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport AJO

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The flight instructor's delayed remedial action to arrest the descent rate, which resulted in a running landing, the left skid catching rough terrain, and the main rotor blades impacting the ground.

Factual narrative

During a local instructional flight, the student pilot was at the flight controls during the second landing of the flight. The flight instructor reported that he began correcting the yaw rate for the student pilot in the landing flare. As the helicopter entered ground effect, the flight instructor reported that he was able to align the skids with the direction of travel, but they touched down with considerable forward momentum. During the running landing, the left skid caught rough terrain and rolled the helicopter to left. The main rotor blades impacted the terrain and stopped the helicopter from rolling over. The helicopter's pitch control linkages were substantially damaged. The flight instructor stated that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. During a local instructional flight, the student pilot was at the flight controls during the second landing of the flight. The flight instructor reported that he began correcting the yaw rate for the student pilot in the landing flare. As the helicopter entered ground effect, the flight instructor reported that he was able to align the skids with the direction of travel, but they touched down with considerable forward momentum. During the running landing, the left skid caught rough terrain and rolled the helicopter to left. The main rotor blades impacted the terrain and stopped the helicopter from rolling over. The helicopter's pitch control linkages were substantially damaged.   The flight instructor stated that there were no 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-Action/decision-Action-Delayed action-Instructor/check pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Descent rate-Not attained/maintained - C
  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-Rough terrain-Effect on equipment

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2015_GAA15CA200.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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