N161PD – BELL OH 58A – 2016-10-25 NTSB Accident Report

On October 25, 2016, a Bell OH 58A (N161PD) was involved in an incident near Ponce, PR. 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 helicopter flight instructor's inadequate demonstration of a simulated engine failure, which resulted in a hard landing.

During an instructional flight, the helicopter was at an altitude of 40 to 50 ft above ground level, at 60 knots, when the flight instructor intended to demonstrate a simulated engine failure and run-on landing. Although the flight instructor had intended to recover from the maneuver prior to an actual run-on landing, he noticed that he did not have enough rotor rpm to recover and elected to continue with the run-on landing. The helicopter then landed hard on a taxiway and slid about 300 ft before coming to rest upright. The flight instructor added that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.

This incident is documented in NTSB report ERA17CA056. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N161PD.