Event GAA16CA045

Factual narrative

The solo student helicopter pilot reported that during flight in the traffic pattern, her noise canceling headset malfunctioned, and she landed on the grass adjacent to the runway to troubleshoot the issue. After landing, she "locked the collective down" and "put some tension on the cyclic." Subsequently, the headset began to function, so she removed the friction on the the collective and applied power for hover flight, forgetting there was still tension applied to the cyclic. When power was applied, the student pilot reported that she did not have enough cyclic control and the helicopter hovered backwards and the tail rotor struck the ground. The tail rotor drive shaft was substantially damaged. The student pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. The solo student helicopter pilot reported that during flight in the traffic pattern, her noise canceling headset malfunctioned, and she landed on the grass adjacent to the runway to troubleshoot the issue. After landing, she "locked the collective down" and "put some tension on the cyclic." Subsequently, the headset began to function, so she removed the friction on the the collective and applied power for hover flight, forgetting there was still tension applied to the cyclic. When power was applied, the student pilot reported that she did not have enough cyclic control and the helicopter hovered backwards and the tail rotor struck the ground. The tail rotor drive shaft was substantially damaged. The student pilot reported 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

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Forgotten action/omission-Pilot - C
• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Attain/maintain not possible - C