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OH-6 Cayuse/67-16214

Serial #: 67-16214
Construction #: -
Civil Registration:
  N129BC
Model: OH-6A
Name: None
Status: Wrecked
Last info: 2001
   History:
Desoto County Sheriffs Department, Hernando, MS, 1998-2001.
- Registered as N129BC.
- Crashed and heavily damaged during training accident, Hernando, MS, Nov. 25, 2001.
NTSB Identification: MIA02LA029. The docket is stored in the (offline) NTSB Imaging System.
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, November 25, 2001 in Hernando, MS
Probable Cause Approval Date: 2/20/02
Aircraft: Hughes OH-6A, registration: N129BC
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.

The flight instructor stated that he and the dual student were performing autorotations, and the student flared the helicopter at an altitude of about 65 feet, and applied initial collective pitch control input at about 10 feet, leveling the helicopter. The instructor said that the aircraft was about 2 feet high, and still moving forward, and at that point the student did not let the helicopter settle to the ground, but continued to apply collective pitch control input. He said he stopped the student from applying collective pitch control input and the aircraft descended, but during the descent the student applied aft cyclic control input, causing the aircraft to hit on the heels of the skids, while rotor rpms were low. The instructor said, that as a result, the main rotor blades contacted the tail boom, severing the tail just forward of the tail rotor gear box.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

The flight instructor's improper supervision of the dual student during a practice autorotation landing by allowing an excessive aft pitch attitude and low main rotor rpm conditions to develop during the landing/flare touchdown, which resulted in the helicopter making a hard landing on the heels of the skids, and the main rotor severing the tail boom.

Source(s):
Federal Aviation Administration, www.faa.gov, Washington D.C., 2003.
National Transportation & Saftery Board (NTSB), 2003.
 Photo Source(s):
None.