NTSB CAROL · Event
Event GAA19CA121
Registry · N680DG
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
EUROCOPTER AS 350 B2
Year of manufacture
2007 · 12 years old at event
TCDS
H9EU · AIRBUS HELICOPTERS
Engine
TURBOMECA ARRIEL 1D1 (712 hp)
Seats / Engines
6 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20070907
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A90389
Registrant of record
STATE OF MONTANA DEPT OF FISH WILDLIFE & PARKS
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's improper landing flare while practicing autorotations, which resulted in a hard, bounced landing.
Factual narrative
The flight instructor reported that, during preparation for the pilot's helicopter commercial check ride, they were going to practice autorotation procedures. He added that, during the second autorotation, he saw that the rotor RPM had dropped significantly, and the pilot was pulling up on the collective. He immediately took over command of the flight controls and attempted to lower the collective. Subsequently, the helicopter landed hard, bounced, yawed right, bounced again, and came to rest on the right side of the runway. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tailboom. The flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. The flight instructor reported that, during preparation for the pilot's helicopter commercial checkride, they were going to practice autorotation procedures. He added that, during the second autorotation, he saw that the rotor rpm had dropped significantly and that the pilot was pulling up on the collective. He immediately took command of the flight controls and attempted to lower the collective. Subsequently, the helicopter landed hard, bounced, yawed right, bounced again, and then came to rest on the right side of the runway. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tailboom. The flight instructor 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
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or 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_2019_GAA19CA121.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (icing). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- NASA NTRS 2026 · Contractor Report (CR)
Icing Physics Studies Using the 3D SIDRM Test Article: 2023 Icing Tests Analysis
In-flight icing is an important safety issue and is a factor that affects aircraft design and performance. Newer regulations are driving a need for improvements in airframe and engine icing simulation…
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning for UAV-Assisted 5G Network Slicing: A Comparative Study of MAPPO, MADDPG, and MADQN
The growing demand for robust, scalable wireless networks in the 5G-and-beyond era has led to the deployment of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) as mobile base stations to enhance coverage in dense urb…
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
A Mathematical Model on the Temporal Dynamics of Aviation Competitive Pricing
This study investigates the competitive dynamics of airport pricing using U.S. airport data to validate the findings. It employs linear and nonlinear ordinary differential equation models to analyze t…
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Presentation
NASA Icing Update – March 2025
This NASA Icing Update was prepared for presentation to the SAE International AC-9C Inflight Icing Technology Committee. This update includes the following topics: planned Rotational Icing Scaling tes…
- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint
An energy-stable phase-field model for droplet icing simulations
A phase-field model for three-phase flows is established by combining the Navier-Stokes (NS) and the energy equations, with the Allen-Cahn (AC) and Cahn-Hilliard (CH) equations and is demonstrated ana…
- NASA NTRS 2024 · Presentation
NASA Icing Update – Oct 2024
This presentation provides a status update on select NASA icing research activities for the SAE AC-9C Icing Technical Committee Meeting on Oct 21, 2024.
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗