GAA19CA284

Factual narrative

The student helicopter pilot reported that she had been working on her private helicopter pilot certificate over an extended period of time. The student reported that the helicopter's throttle governor had been operational during previous solo flights, but it had failed months prior to the accident flight. She confirmed that she had flown the helicopter several times without the use of the governor, under the supervision of the instructor. The day of the accident, she had flown three takeoffs and landings in the pattern with the flight instructor. After the third landing, the instructor exited the helicopter and authorized the student to perform her third solo flight. The student reported that after accomplishing the before takeoff checks, the throttle was increased, and as she increased the collective pitch, she felt an "abnormal vibration," but she decided to continue with the flight. She increased the collective and applied left pedal, and the helicopter ascended, but the nose yawed rapidly to the left. The student noted that the engine RPM increased, and she lowered the collective. The left skid contacted the ground hard, followed by the right skid, and the student decreased power, shut down the engine and exited the helicopter. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the aft skid tube cross-member. The student pilot reported that several mechanical malfunctions existed with the helicopter during previous flights. Examination of the helicopter and the operator's maintenance logbooks revealed that there were maintenance squawks that were incorrectly annotated, however, there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures that were observed during the examination that would have prevented normal helicopter operation. The operator has implemented a policy to document and clear all future maintenance squawks associated with helicopters in their fleet. The day of the accident, the student pilot had flown three takeoffs and landings in the pattern with the instructor. After the third landing, the instructor exited the helicopter and authorized the student to perform her third flight solo. The student accomplished the before takeoff checks and increased the throttle, and as she increased the collective pitch, she felt an "abnormal vibration," but she decided to continue with the flight. She increased the collective and applied left pedal, and the helicopter ascended, but the nose yawed rapidly left. The student noted that the engine rpm had increased, and she lowered the collective. The left skid contacted the ground hard, followed by the right skid, and the student then decreased power, shut down the engine, and exited the helicopter. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the aft skid tube cross-member. The student reported that several mechanical malfunctions existed with the helicopter during previous flights. Although examination of the helicopter and the operator's maintenance logbooks revealed that there were maintenance deficiencies that were incorrectly annotated, postaccident examination revealed no evidence of any preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. After the accident, the operator implemented a policy to document and clear all future maintenance discrepancies associated with helicopters in their fleet. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Powerplant parameters-Not attained/maintained - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Yaw control-Not attained/maintained - C
• — Organizational issues-Management-Policy/procedure-Adequacy of policy/proc-Operator