N59383 – BELL 206B3 – 2011-05-27 NTSB Accident Report

On May 27, 2011, a Bell 206B3 (N59383) was involved in an incident near Glendale, AZ. All 2 people aboard were uninjured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this incident to be: The certified flight instructor's failure to maintain adequate main rotor RPM during the autorotation.

The certified flight instructor reported that he took off in the helicopter to show a student pilot a demonstration of various maneuvers. Near the end of the flight the instructor demonstrated a power on autorotation but he was late rolling on the throttle and did not have sufficient rotor RPM to recover the helicopter before impacting the ground. Upon ground impact the helicopter's tail rotor drive shaft and main rotor blades were damaged. The pilot reported no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions of failures with the airframe or the engine that would have precluded normal operation.

This incident is documented in NTSB report WPR11CA243. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N59383.