N350GP – AMERICAN EUROCOPTER CORP AS350B3 – 2014-07-15 NTSB Accident Report

On July 15, 2014, a American Eurocopter Corp AS350B3 (N350GP) was involved in an incident near Grand Praire, TX. 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 flight instructor's inadequate supervision during a practice autorotation. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's hard landing during a practice autorotation.

The flight was scheduled as recurrent training in helicopters; the foreign rated pilot was accompanied by a flight instructor, and an interpreter and observer who were seated in the back seats. After a series of maneuvers, the foreign pilot conducted a hovering autorotation, following directions from the flight instructor which were translated by the interpreter. During the autorotation, the helicopter yawed slightly right and settled to the ground. The instructor and observer noted that the landing did not feel that hard, but more like a firm or rough landing. The training flight continued with several other autorotations. During a post flight inspection of the helicopter, several wrinkles were found in the tail boom of the helicopter.

This incident is documented in NTSB report CEN14CA367. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N350GP.