LAX02LA137 · Schweizer 269C
Schweizer 269C · Accident during takeoff
From Scottsdale Airport (KSDL) to an unrecorded destination
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX02LA137
- 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
- Unknown
- 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
Schweizer 269C
- Aircraft type
- Schweizer 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
- N324PH
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Scottsdale Airport (KSDL), Scottsdale, AZTo 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
- Takeoff
- 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
- Miscellaneous/other
- 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
- Pilot in command(cfi) › Ground resonance, encountered
- Pilot in command(cfi) › Remedial action, inadequate
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The helicopter sustained substantial damage after experiencing a severe vibratory event during liftoff. The certified flight instructor (CFI) reported that the helicopter was positioned on a slope. The preflight and runup were uneventful. The engine was advanced to 3,100 rpm and the CFI instructed the student to bring the downslope skid level with the upslope skid. As the collective was raised, the helicopter began to vibrate. The CFI decreased engine power and control pressures. He then increased the engine speed to 3,100 rpm. As soon as pressure was placed on the controls, the helicopter began to "self destruct." The uphill skid did not leave the surface during either attempted takeoff. No unresolved mechanical discrepancies were noted with the helicopter prior to the accident. The helicopter was examined by an FAA airworthiness inspector. No preimpact discrepancies were noted with the main rotor dampers or the skid strut oleos. In the FAA Rotorcraft Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-21) it states that ground resonance is associated with fully articulated rotor systems. If a helicopter touches down on one corner, the blades may move out of their normal phase. If the rpm is in the normal operating range, the pilot should fly the helicopter off the ground, allowing the blades to automatically realign themselves. If not, the helicopter may self-destruct in a matter of seconds.
Probable cause
The flight instructor's inadequate remedial action following the onset of ground resonance.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX02LA137
- Event ID
- 20020419X00546
- Case number
- LAX02LA137
- 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, coordinates. 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: 0e7a74aa958b63ec8d1c0de306af8245b788e1174402f8db62b75d4717418f1f; retrieved 2026-09-22T11:00:24.070Z.