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GAA18CA539

2018-09-03 · DELAWARE, Ohio, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport DLZ

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s improper landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that, while practicing "quick stops and steep approaches", he flared the helicopter too hard and too low and the tail skid struck the runway, resulting in a hard landing. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that, while practicing "quick stops and steep approaches," he flared the helicopter too hard and too low, and the tail skid struck the runway, which resulted in a hard landing. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions 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 Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2018_GAA18CA539.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.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (icing). All research papers