Hughes 269C accident near Garden City, Kansas, November 2, 1994
On November 2, 1994 at about 9:15 pm local time, a Hughes 269C (helicopter), registered N9294F, was substantially damaged in an accident near Garden City, Kansas. It was a business flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). The NTSB record does not give the injuries. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
inadvertant engagement of the rotor drive system, while the helicopter had been left unattended by the pilot.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- November 2, 1994 · about 9:15 pm local time
- Place
- Garden City, Kansas · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- The NTSB record does not give the injuries.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Hughes 269C 269-C · all 269Cs on the register
- Registration
- N9294F · no longer on the register · serial 650421
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
THE PILOT LEFT THE HELICOPTER UNATTENDED WITH THE ENGINE AT IDLE AND THE ROTOR SYSTEM DISENGAGED. WHILE UNATTENDED, THE ENGINE ACCELERATED, AND THE ROTOR SYSTEM DRIVE BELTS ENGAGED. THE UNPILOTED HELICOPTER MOVED ACROSS THE GROUND, STRUCK A POLE AND WAS SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED. POST-CRASH INSPECTION REVEALED THE COLLECTIVE IN THE FULL UP POSITION.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane; instrument: helicopter; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 5,500 hours in all; 450 in this make and model; 60 in the last 90 days; 25 in the last 30 days; 5,100 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: unk
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 1,435 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, August 9, 1994; 20 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,050 lb
- Seats: 3
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming HIO-360-D1A (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 030° at 10 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility: 20 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 25,000 ft
- Temperature: 73°F (23°C), dew point 37°F (3°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 8:50 pm from GCK, 1 miles away
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N9294F the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.