Hughes 269C accident near Watkins, CO
On May 28, 2003, a Hughes 269C (helicopter) was involved in an accident near Watkins, CO. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- May 28, 2003
- Place
- Watkins, CO
- Aircraft
- Hughes 269C · Helicopter
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 39.784°N, 104.535°W
- NTSB ID
- 20030605X00783
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On May 28, 2003, approximately 0905 mountain daylight time, a Hughes 269C helicopter, N9643F, owned and operated by Highlander Helicopter Leasing, was destroyed when it impacted terrain during landing at Front Range Airport, Watkins, Colorado. The commercial certificated flight instructor was fatally injured, and the private pilot receiving instruction was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. No flight plan had been filed for the local instructional flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated approximately 0850. According to several witnesses, the helicopter had been flying in a left-hand traffic pattern, practicing autorotations on taxiway Charlie. The helicopter had flown the pattern approximately five times, and each time the helicopter descended in a nose-down attitude, leveled off and hovered, "sometimes rising slightly." Another witness, who was working on an oil derrick located approximately 1/4-mile south of taxiway Charlie, saw the accident. He said the "helicopter descended in a nose-down attitude, but it did not appear to level off." From his perspective, it "appeared to strike the ground with its right skid." He said he saw a cloud of dust and saw the helicopter start spinning around rapidly. It struck the ground, rolled over on its right side, and came to rest between taxiways Charlie and Bravo. According to the Front Range Airport Authority, they received the first report of a helicopter accident at 0911. The receptionist called 9-1-1 at 0913 and, based on reports from personnel on site,
Probable cause
failure of both pilots to initiate a timely recovery from a practice autorotation. A contributing factor was the instructor's inadequate supervision of the pilot receiving instruction.
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Browse: Colorado · Hughes aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
