Hughes 369D Hard landing 5-29-07

[phantomphan1974]

Happened to be coming home from a run down at Torrance/Redondo beach and noticed this.  All I had was my cell phone.  Darn    Everyone seemed to be fine except for the helicopter.  No specifics.  They did leave it there till tomorrow.  Maybe waiting for the NTSB.  Rotors not bent or broken.  Tail boom was rotated about 40 degrees. 

[Josh]

WOW! Could look for the NTSB report.

[Josh]

Friend of mine noticed the rear still has the engine plug in, maybe cause of the crash!? wow...

[phantomphan1974]

Before they headed out for the night they tied of the rotors and plug the exhaust, is it was not there when it crashed.  Should be there in the morning.  Parking lot west of Lowes.

[Josh]

Rgr, I'll keep an eye out on the NTSB reports.

[phantomphan1974]

Still there yesterday and shot some better shots.  Will post them when I get a chance to edit.

[phantomphan1974]

Looks like it was removed yesterday as it was gone when I drove by.  Was having problems reducing in size the images.

[Josh]

Bout time... 

NTSB Identification: SEA07CA139
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, May 29, 2007 in Torrance, CA
Aircraft: Hughes 369D, registration: N935M
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.

The pilot stated that he intended to practice autorotations and hovering at the airport. Upon arriving at the airport practice area, he began 360-degree hovers. During one of the hovers, he lost control of the helicopter and it landed hard. Wind gusts were reported at the time of the accident which the pilot thought contributed to the loss of helicopter control. During the hard landing, the skids split and the tail boom was bent. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions.

[NikonGuy]

WOW! what a small world lol. I've known the owner and pilot of that helicopter for about 2 years. I have a couple of pictures before the accident (about 2-3 months before), I'll share 1 cool pic.

[phantomphan1974]

Nice one Fernando.  Has he repaired it yet? 

[NikonGuy]

Actually I haven't seen the helicopter since the accident. I  did see him flying a Robinson 44 yesterday. I hope he repairs that cool helicopter, I just don't know how that happened because I flew with him once and he went through  like 1 million checklist's. 

[phantomphan1974]

Was he new to flying them I wonder?  Wonder if he knows abouth this thread? 

[NikonGuy]

Not at all "Mr. Pilot" has been flying for years. He is a helicopter and airplane pilot and very experienced.

[NikonGuy]

Ok I took this at SMO earlier today, saw Ralph too!   

So he ended up not selling the ship   

[phantomphan1974]

Ok I took this at SMO earlier today, saw Ralph too!   

So he ended up not selling the ship   

Glad its all fixed up and he ok now.  Don't care about Ralph.