Skip to content

GAA18CA168

2018-03-14 · San Antonio, Texas, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport SSF

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s decision to relinquish the helicopter flight controls to a non-rated passenger during a 3 ft hover.

Factual narrative

The helicopter pilot reported that he allowed his non-rated passenger to "try his hovering skills" at 3ft AGL. The pilot told the passenger, "You have the aircraft" and the pilot removed his hands from the flight controls. The passenger pushed the cyclic to its forward limit, and the helicopter impacted the ground. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the main rotor and tail rotor drive systems, and the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. The helicopter pilot reported that he allowed his non-rated passenger to "try his hovering skills" at 3 ft above ground level. The pilot told the passenger, "you have the aircraft," and the pilot removed his hands from the flight controls. The passenger pushed the cyclic to its forward limit, and the helicopter impacted the ground. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the main rotor and tail rotor drive systems, and the fuselage. The pilot reported 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-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Altitude-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Experience/knowledge-Experience/qualifications-Qualification/certification-Passenger - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2018_GAA18CA168.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.