CEN11FA359 · Eurocopter AS 350 B2
Sovereign International Equities Eurocopter AS 350 B2 · Accident: loss of control in flight on approach
From Perot Field/Fort Worth Alliance Airport (AFW) to Perot Field/Fort Worth Alliance Airport (AFW)
Event
- NTSB case
- CEN11FA359
- 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
Eurocopter AS 350 B2
- Aircraft type
- Eurocopter AS-350
- 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
- N747CH
- Operator
- Sovereign International Equities
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Perot Field/Fort Worth Alliance Airport (AFW), Fort Worth, TXTo Perot Field/Fort Worth Alliance Airport (AFW), Fort Worth, TX
- 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 base
- Defining eventThe 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
- Loss of control in flight
- 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
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
- Personnel issues › Task performance
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The pilot had recently purchased the helicopter and was receiving flight training from a certified flight instructor (CFI). During practice traffic pattern work, the helicopter’s hydraulic system was turned off to simulate hydraulic failure on the flight control system. During the approach, the airport’s ground controller reported that they were on the wrong radio frequency, so the CFI changed the radio to the correct frequency. The helicopter’s airspeed slowed and the helicopter entered an uncommanded left yaw. The CFI tried to regain control by adding right pedal, trying to gain for forward airspeed, and reducing power. The helicopter did not respond to the CFI’s control inputs. Subsequently, the helicopter impacted the ground, rolled on to its side, and a postcrash fire ensued. A postaccident examination of the helicopter revealed no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operations. A review of the helicopter’s flight manual reveals the note: “Caution, Do not attempt to carry out hover flight or any low speed maneuver without hydraulic pressure assistance. The intensity and direction of the control feedback forces will change rapidly. This will result in excessive pilot workload, poor aircraft control, and possible loss of control." Additionally, one or both pilots may have been distracted by the incorrect radio frequency.
Probable cause
The pilot’s loss of control due to his not maintaining adequate airspeed and altitude during a simulated hydraulic flight control failure. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor’s inadequate supervision and delayed remedial response.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record CEN11FA359
- Event ID
- 20110531X94036
- Case number
- CEN11FA359
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
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: e5730db9f1921f6c2975960846a3a39e98c875695b395bee0f6b10ab1d583aab; retrieved 2026-09-15T16:13:41.998Z.