Hughes OH-6A accident near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, February 22, 2025
On February 22, 2025 at about 11:20 pm local time, a 1968 Hughes OH-6A (helicopter), registered N4191T, was substantially damaged in an accident near Santa Teresa, New Mexico (Dona Ana County Intl Jetport airport). It was an instructional 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 flight instructor's failure to maintain helicopter control during a practice autorotation, which resulted in a hard landing and structural damage to the tail boom and subsequent failure of the tail rotor drive system.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- February 22, 2025 · about 11:20 pm local time
- Place
- Santa Teresa, New Mexico · Dona Ana County Intl Jetport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Hughes OH-6A, built 1968 · all OH-6As on the register
- Registration
- N4191T · registry record · serial 67-16164
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
After the pilot undergoing instruction completed a series of practice maneuvers, the flight instructor assumed the controls and initiated a hover taxi to return the helicopter to the ramp. During the hover taxi, the helicopter shuddered and yawed abruptly to the right. Despite the instructor's reduction of throttle and collective, the yaw developed into an uncontrolled spin, and the helicopter impacted terrain. The pilot undergoing instruction reported that the final maneuver the pilot had performed before the hover taxi was a full-down autorotation. She reported that, during the maneuver’s landing flare, the helicopter struck the ground hard enough that she believed the tail stinger contacted the ground. The pilots paused to assess the helicopter, and it appeared undamaged. She reported that because the instructor remained concerned, they elected to end the training flight and return for further inspection of the helicopter. Although the instructor did not characterize the landing as hard, examination of the helicopter revealed upward bending and buckling of the lower vertical stabilizer and stinger, upward deformation of the tail boom, and rotational scoring on the tail rotor drive shaft consistent with contact with the tail rotor pitch control rod during a hard landing. These findings are consistent with a preaccident tail strike that compromised the structural integrity of the tail boom and damaged the tail rotor drive system. The structure ultimately failed as the helicopter was being taxied.
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
- Autorotation Loss of control in flight defining event
- Aircraft structural failure during taxi (from runway)
The NTSB's findings
- Personnel issues › Task performance › Use of equip/info › Aircraft control › Instructor/check pilot
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability › Performance/control parameters › (general) › Not attained/maintained
Flight instructor
- Certificate: flight instructor, commercial pilot, private
- Ratings: single-engine land; instructor: helicopter; instrument: helicopter; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 9,326 hours in all; 5,000 in this make and model; 160 in the last 90 days; 26 in the last 30 days; 9,105 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: April 16, 2024
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: single-engine land; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 1,000 hours in all; 200 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: rgt
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 4,502 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, December 21, 2024; 10 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,550 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Rolls Royce T63A-700 (turboshaft); 3,307 hours total
The flight
- Flight plan: none
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 310° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 61°F (16°C), dew point 10°F (-12°C)
- Altimeter: 30.19 inHg
- Observation at 3:15 pm from KDNA, 1 miles away
Weather report (METAR): METAR KDNA 222215Z AUTO 31003KT 10SM CLR 16/M12 A3019 RMK AO2=
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flig | 2 |
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 docket at the NTSB holds the report as a PDF and the investigation's photographs and documents. This site 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 WPR25LA101.