Hughes 269A accident near Titusville, Florida, March 9, 2023
On March 9, 2023 at about 10:00 pm local time, a 1963 Hughes 269A (helicopter), registered N8911F, was substantially damaged in an accident near Titusville, Florida. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate main rotor RPM during an autorotation which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent rotor blade strike of the tail boom.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- March 9, 2023 · about 10:00 pm local time
- Place
- Titusville, Florida · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Hughes 269A, built 1963 · all 269As on the register
- Registration
- N8911F · registry record · serial 0230
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The flight instructor reported that he was demonstrating a 180° autorotation for his passenger into an open field off airport grounds. Nearing the end of the maneuver, prior to touchdown, he failed to recover engine power in a timely manner which resulted in the rapid decay of the rotor rpm at low altitude; this resulted in a hard landing that subsequently caused the main rotor blades to make contact with the tail boom and severed the tail rotor driveshaft. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and the main rotor blades. The pilot reported that there were no pre accident mechanical malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
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
What happened, in order
- Autorotation Hard landing defining event
- Simulated/training event during emergency descent
The NTSB's findings
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability › Performance/control parameters › Prop/rotor parameters › Capability exceeded
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability › Performance/control parameters › Descent rate › Not attained/maintained
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant › Engine (reciprocating) › Recip engine power section › Simulated malf/failure
- Personnel issues › Action/decision › Action › Delayed action › Pilot
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: instrument airplane; instructor: instrument helicopter; instrument: airplane; instrument: helicopter; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 8,567 hours in all; 97 in this make and model; 103 in the last 90 days; 41 in the last 30 days; 3,380 as pilot in command; 379 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1
- Seat: rgt
- Injury: no injuries
Passenger
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 2,581 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, January 22, 2023
- Maximum gross weight: 1,650 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming IO-360-B1B (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: A & J Aviation Services LLC.
The flight
- Departed from: TIX Titusville FL at 9:15 pm
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 100° at 8 knots
- Visibility: 7 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 4,200 ft
- Temperature: 79°F (26°C), dew point 52°F (11°C)
- Altimeter: 30.13 inHg
- Observation at 3:48 pm from TIX, 1 miles away
Weather report (METAR): METAR KTIX 092048Z 10008KT 7SM SCT042 26/11 A3013=
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 1 |
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.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number ERA23LA146.