NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX90LA204
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THIS ACCIDENT WAS A DYNAMIC ROLL OVER DUE TO THE RIGHT SKID ENCOUNTERING SOFT SOIL DURING THE FORCED LANDING.
Factual narrative
ACCORDING TO STATEMENTS FROM BOTH THE INSTRUCTOR AND THE STUDENT, FOUR PRACTICE AUTOROTATIONS HAD ALREADY BEEN PERFORMED WITH POWER RECOVERIES PRIOR TO TOUCH DOWN. THE PILOTS NOTED THAT THE FIFTH AUTOROTATION PROCEEDED NORMALLY UNTIL ABOUT 40 FEET AGL WHEN THROTTLE AND COLLECTIVE WAS ADDED TO BEGIN THE POWER RECOVERY. ACCORDING TO BOTH PILOTS STATEMENTS, THE ENGINE DID NOT RESPOND WHEN THE THROTTLE WAS INCREASED. THE HELICOPTER TOUCHED DOWN HARD, SLID ALONG THE GROUND AND ROLLED OVER ON ITS RIGHT SIDE AFTER THE RIGHT SKID ENCOUNTERED SOFT SOIL. THE ENGINE AND HELICOPTER WERE EXAMINED WITH NO EVIDENCE OF A SYSTEM FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION. THE ENGINE WAS STARTED IN THE HELICOPTER AND RUN FOR 10 MINUTES. DURING THE TEST RUN, THE ENGINE WAS CYCLED THROUGHOUT ITS NORMAL OPERATING RANGE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1990_LAX90LA204.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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