NYC88LA160

1988-06-05 · WESTERLY, Rhode Island, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport WST

Aircraft involved

N580H Enstrom F-28C None

Factual narrative

THE INSTRUCTOR PILOT STATED THAT AFTER EXECUTING SEVERAL STRAIGHT-IN AND 180 DEGREE AUTOROTATIONS THEY DECIDED TO ATTEMPT SOME HOVERING AUTOROTATIONS. AFTER EXECUTING THE FIRST ONE SUCCESSFULLY IN A TAILWIND SITUATION, THE STUDENT INITIATED THE SECOND ONE, STILL DOWNWIND, FROM A STABILIZED 3 TO 5 FOOT HOVER. THE CFI STATED THAT THE NOSE OF THE HELICOPTER BEGAN TO PITCH DOWN VERY ABRUPTLY AND BOTH HE AND THE STUDENT APPLIED AFT CYCLIC. DIRECTIONAL CONTROL WAS MAINTAINED; HOWEVER, THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH THE GROUND WITH THE MAIN ROTORS AND THE FORWARD PORTION OF THE SKIDS. THE HELICOPTER THEN ROCKED BACK TO A LEVEL ATTITUDE AND WAS SHUT DOWN. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1988_NYC88LA160.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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