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ATL89FA035 · Hughes 269C

14 Nov 1988 · MOHAWK, TN, United States

Hughes 269C · Accident: total loss of engine power (mechanical failure) on approach

From Morristown, TN (private airstrip) to an unrecorded destination

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Event

NTSB case
ATL89FA035
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
2 · 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 269C

Aircraft type
Hughes 269
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
N9575F
Operator
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Morristown, TN (private airstrip)To 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
Approach · VFR pattern downwind
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
Total loss of engine power (mechanical failure)
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Autorotation › Delayed
  • Engine assembly, connecting rod bolt › Fatigue
  • Engine assembly, piston › Burned
  • Other maintenance personnel › Maintenance, overhaul, inadequate
  • Pilot in command(cfi) › Rotor RPM, not maintained

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

NTSB narrative

THE HELICOPTER HAD LANDED AT A PRIVATE AIRSTRIP AND THE INSTRUCTOR DEPLANED. THE DUAL STUDENT REMAINED IN THE HELICOPTER WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING. THE CFI REBOARDED AND THE STUDENT MADE THE TAKEOFF. LATER, ON DOWNWIND IN TRAFFIC PATTERN, A WITNESS REPORTED A LOUD NOISE FROM THE ENGINE. THE MAIN ROTOR WAS OBSERVED TO SLOW NOTICEABLY AND THE HELICOPTER ENTERED A VERY STEEP DESCENT, IMPACTING THE GROUND ABOUT 1,000 FEET SOUTH OF THE RUNWAY. THE ENGINE ROD BOLTS ON THE NUMBER FOUR CYLINDER HAD FRACTURED. EXAMINATION OF THE FLIGHT CONTROLS REVEALED NO EVIDENCE OF PREIMPACT FAILURE. ONE OF THE ROD BOLTS WAS METALLURGICALLY EXAMINED AND SHOWED CRACKING THROUGH 25 PERCENT OF THE BOLT. THE FATIGUE WAS ATTRIBUTED TO INSUFFICIENT PRELOAD ON THE BOLT. THE ENGINE HAD 813 HRS SINCE A MAJOR OVERHAUL AND 36 HRS SINCE ANNUAL INSPECTION.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record ATL89FA035
Event ID
20001213X27186
Case number
ATL89FA035
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: d8a1c66eb794fa36f2725e4e5664dd73051d8dcd2026d9101efeaef84a37ab50; retrieved 2026-09-21T03:29:25.580Z.