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| Date: | Thursday 7 September 2023 |
| Time: | 12:00 |
| Type: |  MD Helicopters MD 500E (369E) |
| Owner/operator: | City Of Houston Police Department |
| Registration: | N8372F |
| MSN: | 0488E |
| Year of manufacture: | 1991 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 18500 hours |
| Engine model: | Rolls Royce 250-C20B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Houston Southwest Airport (AXH/KAXH), Arcola, TX -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Houston Southwest Airport, TX (KAXH) |
| Houston Southwest Airport, TX (KAXH) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
During an evaluation flight with a company pilot, the instructor pilot reported that he failed to re-apply engine power prior to the completion of a practice autorotation with a power recovery. During the maneuver, the instructor's attention was diverted from reapplying engine power by an airplane holding short of the runway near their planned touchdown point. The helicopter subsequently landed hard on the runway, which resulted in substantial damage to the tail boom. The instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions of failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Probable Cause: The instructor's failure to re-apply engine power during a power recovery after a practice autorotation which resulted in a hard landing.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB CEN23LA404
https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=193027
https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/N8372F
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 30 September 2024 | N8372F | City Of Houston Police Department | 0 | Wolfe Air Park (3T2), Manvel, TX | |
sub |
| Autorotation | ||||||
Location
Images:
Photo: NTSB
Photo: NTSB (NOTE: FIRST PHOTO IS FOR ANOTHER ACCIDENT)
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 13-Sep-2023 07:21 | Captain Adam | Added |
| 16-Nov-2023 14:23 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Operator, Other fatalities, Phase, Nature, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 16-Nov-2023 14:23 | harro | Updated [Other fatalities, Nature, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 02-Mar-2025 16:49 | Captain Adam | Updated [Time, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Photo, ] |
| 02-Mar-2025 16:52 | Captain Adam | Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Photo, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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