North Las Vegas Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

North Las Vegas, Nevada 89032
Monday, August 8, 2005 11:15 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The tail rotor and stinger were damaged during a full touchdown practice autorotation. During a 120-day recurrent training, the instructor pilot and commercial pilot were performing their fifth full-down autorotation. Both pilots were on the controls during the maneuver and the instructor pilot advised the commercial pilot to push the cyclic forward during the deceleration flare; however, the commercial pilot did not move it far enough and stinger impacted the ground, followed by the tail rotor. The tail rotor was substantially damaged and had to be replaced. No mechanical problems were reported with the helicopter prior to the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's improper use of the cyclic flight control and the flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/8/2005
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1115
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City North Las Vegas
Event State NEVADA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 89032
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 361200N
Event Location Longitude 1151100W
Event Location Airport North Las Vegas
Event Location Nearest Airport ID VGT
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1053 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID KVGT
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 34
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 15
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 150
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 14
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.96
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 18634
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 9 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 27 2005 6:51AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-LAS-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N58431
NTSB Number LAX05CA263
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Hughes
Aircraft Model 369D
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1290647D
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Helicopter
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Las Vegas Metropolitan PD
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City North Las Vegas
Aircraft Owner State NV
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board --
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code VGT
Departure City North Las Vegas
Departure State NV
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1939
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code VGT
Destination City North Las Vegas
Destination State NV
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 8 2005 5:09PM
User who most recently changed record RICJ
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --