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WPR13CA253

2013-05-01 · Hamilton, Montana, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 6S5

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot’s failure to maintain helicopter control during a practice autorotation and the flight instructor's delayed remedial action.

Factual narrative

The flight instructor reported that during an instructional flight, the helicopter was at 500 feet above ground level when he rolled the throttle off with the intent for the student to respond by initiating a straight in autorotation. The student pilot did not respond properly, so the instructor took over to initiate a power recovery. The helicopter subsequently landed hard, deforming both skids and substantially damaging the airframe. The pilot did not report any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failure with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. The flight instructor reported that during an instructional flight, the helicopter was 500 feet above ground level when he rolled the throttle off with the intent for the student to respond by initiating a straight-in autorotation. The student pilot did not respond properly, so the instructor took the controls to initiate a power recovery. The helicopter subsequently landed hard, deforming both skids and substantially damaging the airframe. The pilot did not report any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Delayed action-Instructor/check pilot - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Descent rate-Not attained/maintained - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2013_WPR13CA253.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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