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LAX94FA372 · Hughes 369D

22 Sept 1994 · Genoa, NV, United States

Hughes 369D · Accident: in flight collision with terrain/water during an emergency descent

From Minden-Tahoe Airport (MEV) to an unrecorded destination

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Event

NTSB case
LAX94FA372
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Hughes 369D

Aircraft type
Hughes 369
Category
Helicopter
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N58352
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Minden-Tahoe Airport (MEV), Minden, NVTo not recorded
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Emergency descent
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
In flight collision with terrain/water
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Faa inspector › Aircraft preflight, inadequate
  • Pilot in command › Crew/group coordination, inadequate
  • Pilot in command › Operation with known deficiencies in equipment, performed

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

THE FAA OPERATIONS INSPECTOR WAS OBTAINING FLIGHT TIME FOR RECURRENCY WHILE ADMINISTERING A PROFICIENCY CHECK TO THE PILOT/OPERATOR (PLT). BEFORE FLIGHT, THE INSPECTOR GAVE AN ORAL EXAM TO THE PLT. WHILE PREPARING FOR FLIGHT, THE PLT TOLD THE INSPECTOR THAT THE THROTTLE ON THE RIGHT COLLECTIVE WAS INOPERATIVE (DISCONNECTED), BUT THE INSPECTOR DID NOT ASSIMILATE THIS INFORMATION. ALSO, DURING THE PREFLIGHT INSPECTION, THE INSPECTOR (IN THE LEFT SEAT) DID NOT CHECK THROTTLE CONTINUITY TO THE RIGHT COLLECTIVE CONTROL. DURING THE FIRST PART OF THE FLIGHT, THE INSPECTOR FLEW THE HELICOPTER MOST OF THE TIME. HE THEN PROCEEDED TO HAVE THE PLT PERFORM SPECIFIC MANEUVERS TO SATISFY THE REQUIREMENTS OF A PROFICIENCY CHECK. WHILE RETURNING TO THE AIRPORT, THE INSPECTOR REDUCED HIS THROTTLE TO FLIGHT IDLE TO SIMULATE AN ENGINE FAILURE; HE THEN TRANSFERRED THE CONTROLS TO THE PLT & TOLD HIM TO PERFORM AN AUTOROTATION. THE PLT DID NOT REALIZE THAT THE INSPECTOR HAD REDUCED POWER TO FLIGHT IDLE WITH THE OPERABLE (LEFT) THROTTLE UNTIL HE RAISED THE RIGHT COLLECTIVE IN AN ATTEMPT TO FLY OUT OF THE AUTOROTATION NEAR THE GROUND. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE HELICOPTER SUSTAINED A HARD LANDING. AN INVESTIGATION DISCLOSED THAT THE PILOT/OPERATOR HAD THE RIGHT COLLECTIVE THROTTLE LINKAGE DISCONNECTED ABOUT 2 YEARS BEFORE THE FLIGHT.

Probable cause

THE PILOT/OPERATOR'S OPERATION OF THE HELICOPTER WITH A DISCONNECTED THROTTLE ON THE RIGHT COLLECTIVE; THE FAA INSPECTOR'S INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT/PRETAKEOFF CHECKS OF THE FLIGHT CONTROL/THROTTLE SYSTEMS; AND THE PILOT/OPERATOR'S FAILURE TO ADEQUATELY INFORM THE INSPECTOR OF THE DISCONNECTED RIGHT THROTTLE, WHICH RESULTED IN AN INADEQUATE POWER RECOVERY FROM AN INSPECTOR INITIATED AUTOROTATION.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record LAX94FA372
Event ID
20001206X02275
Case number
LAX94FA372
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 8d438249cb50bd75cedcba8960b3ff06ba9fe8c6064617880368e8b3a137c6c7; retrieved 2026-09-21T22:28:52.227Z.