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LAX91LA072

1991-01-11 · TORRANCE, California, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport TOA

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S IMPROPER USE OF THE ROTORCRAFT'S FLIGHT CONTROLS. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE RELATED TO THE PILOT'S LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN THE TYPE OF LOW ALTITUDE MANEUVER.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT WAS PRACTICING HOVERING AND TURNING AROUND A POINT MANEUVERS IN ACCORDANCE WITH HIS SOLO FLIGHT ENDORSEMENT. WHILE HOVERING SEVERAL FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL THE NOSE OF THE HELICOPTER PITCHED UP AND THE TAIL ROTOR CONTACTED THE GROUND AND BROKE. THEREAFTER, THE PILOT LOST CONTROL OF THE HELICOPTER AND IT ROLLED OVER. THE CERTIFICATED PRIVATE PILOT HAD LOGGED 2194 HOURS OF FLIGHT TIME IN FIXED WING AIRPLANES. HE HAD 26.2 HOURS OF FLIGHT TIME IN HELICOPTERS. THE PILOT'S TOTAL SOLO PIC FLIGHT TIME IN THE ACCIDENT HELICOPTER, WHICH HE WAS LEARNING TO FLY, WAS 3.2 HOURS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_LAX91LA072.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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