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LAX89LA289

1989-08-26 · TRACY, California, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 1Q4

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

DUAL STUDENT'S FAILURE TO PROPERLY FLARE THE HELICOPTER DURING THE AUTOROTATION POWER RECOVERY AND THE CFI'S FAILURE TO ADEQUATELY SUPERVISE THE DUAL STUDENT'S PERFORMACE DURING A CRITICAL PHASE OF FLIGHT.

Factual narrative

WHILE PRACTICING POWER RECOVERY AUTOROTATIONS THE DUAL STUDENT PLT FLARED IN A NOSE LOW ATTITUDE. THE CFI ATTEMPTED TO FLARE THE HELICOPTER BUT IT STRUCK THE GROUND BEFORE THE DESCENT COULD BE ARRESTED. THE CFI REPORTED THAT THE HELICOPTER DID NOT EXPERIENCE ANY PREIMPACT MECHANICAL MALFUNCTIONS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_LAX89LA289.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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