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WPR21LA077

2021-01-01 · Marana, Arizona, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport KAVQ

Current FAA registration · N74823

Make / Model
BELL 47D1
Year of manufacture
1953 · 68 years old at event
Engine
FRANKLIN 6V4 SERIES (210 hp)
Seats / Engines
3 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19660418
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S AA12FC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain helicopter control, which resulted in a hard landing.

Factual narrative

The helicopter pilot reported that, while hover taxing on the taxiway, a Cessna airplane taxied from the ramp onto the same taxiway and turned toward and approached the helicopter. The helicopter pilot assumed that the Cessna would turn onto another taxiway toward the runway, however the Cessna continued toward the helicopter. The helicopter pilot stated that he went into a vertical lift, but "due to low rotor RPM the helicopter went into a loss of control spin". The helicopter landed hard to the left of the taxiway, substantially damaging the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions 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.

  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Yaw control-Not attained/maintained

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2021_WPR21LA077.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (loss of control). All research papers