| Crash location | 47.908056°N, 122.105278°W |
| Nearest city | Snohomish, WA
47.912876°N, 122.098185°W 0.5 miles away |
| Tail number | N53KF |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 24 Jul 2003 |
| Aircraft type | Hughes 269C |
| Additional details: | None |
On July 24, 2003, approximately 1215 Pacific daylight time, a Hughes 269C helicopter, N53KF, collided with the terrain during a go-around from a practice autorotation near Snohomish, Washington. Neither the certified flight instructor or his student were injured, but the aircraft, which is owned and operated by Snohomish Flying Service, sustained substantial damage. The 14 CFR Part 91 local instructional flight, which departed Harvey Field, Snohomish, Washington, about 60 minutes earlier, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions.
According to the instructor pilot, the student was executing a practice power-off autorotation, and during the go-around from the simulated landing flare, he applied too much aft cyclic. The remedial actions of the instructor, who was simultaneously applying a small amount of up collective to arrest a slight sink, were not sufficient to keep the student (who is a high-time fixed wing pilot) from applying so much aft cyclic that the tail rotor of the helicopter impacted the ground. Immediately after the tail rotor hit the ground, there was a loss of tail rotor effectiveness. Soon thereafter, the helicopter began to spin, and the instructor pilot took over total control and executed an emergency landing. After the aircraft's engine was shut down, it was determined that there was damage to both the tail rotor and tail boom.
The dual students failure to maintain clearance from the terrain during the go-around from a simulated autorotational flare, and the instructor pilot's failure to take adequate remedial action to keep the dual student from allowing the aircraft to impact the terrain.