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SEA88LA093

1988-05-11 · PRINEVILLE, Oregon, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport S39

N751AM has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (EUROCOPTER AS 350 B3, built 2008), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE PILOT REDUCED POWER FOR LANDING AND A HIGH SINK RATE DEVELOPED. THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TO INCREASE POWER TO CORRECT THE SINK RATE BUT GOT NO RESPONSE. ROTOR RPM'S WERE DIMINISHING, SO THE PLT LOWERED THE COLLECTIVE TO REGAIN RPM'S. THE PILOT ELECTED MAKE AN AUTOROTATION. THE PILOT HELD THE HELICOPTER IN A FLARE UNTIL AIRSPEED WAS EXHAUSTED. AT ABOUT 5 FEET AGL THE HELICOPTER DESCENDED VERTICALLY UNTIL IT STRUCK THE GROUND, BREAKING OFF THE RIGHT SKID. THE HELICOPTER THEN ROLLED ONTO ITS RIGHT SIDE STRIKING THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1988_SEA88LA093.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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