NTSB CAROL · Event
Event GAA20CA062
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The student pilot's improper cyclic input after a reported hydraulic failure, the reason for which could not be determined, and his failure to follow the emergency procedures, which resulted in a hard landing.
Factual narrative
The student helicopter pilot reported that during landing, the helicopter had a hydraulic failure, to which he "overreacted, causing a loss of control and subsequent roll over." The helicopter caught fire, and the pilot egressed through the left door. During a conversation with the student, he reported that he did not accomplish the helicopter manufactures Hydraulic Failure emergency procedure, because, he "didn't want to let go of the cyclic or the collective to turn off the hydraulic pressure switch." The tail struck the ground and a subsequent hard landing ensued. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and tailboom. According to FAA Aviation Safety Inspectors that interviewed the pilot directly following the accident, the pilot stated that, he overreacted by making multiple commands to the cyclic and a tail strike ensued, followed by hard landing and rollover. The hydraulic pump and the hydraulic lines were damaged during the post-accident fire. The student pilot reported that, during landing, the helicopter experienced a hydraulic failure. He added that he "overreacted" by making multiple commands to the cyclic, which resulted in a tail strike, followed by a hard landing and roll-over. The helicopter caught fire, and the student egressed through the left door. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and tailboom. According to Federal Aviation Administration inspectors who interviewed the pilot immediately following the accident, the pilot stated that he overreacted and that he did not accomplish the helicopter manufacturer's Hydraulic Failure emergency procedure because he "didn't want to let go of the cyclic or the collective to turn off the hydraulic pressure switch." The hydraulic pump and the hydraulic lines were damaged during the postaccident fire; therefore, the reason for the reported hydraulic failure could not be determined. 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-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Use of equip/system-Student/instructed pilot - C
- C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Use of policy/procedure-Student/instructed pilot - C
- C Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Flight control system-(general)-Incorrect use/operation - C
- C Not determined-Not determined-(general)-(general)-Unknown/Not determined - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2019_GAA20CA062.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 (loss of control). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
A Scoping Review of Aviation Loss of Control Inflight Research
Loss of control – inflight (LOC-I) contributes to aircraft accidents at unacceptably high rates. Significant industry efforts and research have aimed to improve LOC-I prevention, detection, and recove…
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article
Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I) — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary comprehensive knowledge-base entry on Loss of Control In-Flight — definitions, contributing factors, accident case studies (Air France 447, Colgan 3407), and prevention strategies.
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2022 · Accident report
Loss of Control on Takeoff in Icing Conditions — Citation 560XL
Cessna Citation 560XL fatal takeoff icing accident, March 2018. Investigation of a Citation 560XL loss-of-control takeoff accident in icing conditions.
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Aviation)
ANALYSIS OF GENERAL AVIATION FIXED-WING AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS INVOLVING INFLIGHT LOSS OF CONTROL USING A STATE-BASED APPROACH
Inflight loss of control (LOC-I) is a significant cause of General Aviation (GA) fixed-wing aircraft accidents. The United States National Transportation Safety Board’s database provides a rich source…
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Presentation
Use of Design of Experiments in Determining Neural Network Architectures for Loss of Control Detection
Abstract—We describe empirical methods for selecting a neural network architecture to implement belief state inference on generic commercial transport aircraft.
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Conference Paper
Use of Design of Experiments in Determining Neural Network Architectures for Loss of Control Detection
We describe empirical methods for selecting a neural network architecture to implement belief state inference on generic commercial transport aircraft.
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