Schweizer 269C Safety Record

The separation of the throttle cable’s outer housing from the inner housing at the throttle linkage while at a high-power setting, which prevented the pilot from being able to control the throttle and execute a proper landing flare and resulted in a hard landing.

The helicopter owner’s failure to ensure the helicopter’s airworthiness and the inadequate inspection and maintenance of the helicopter's landing gear dampers, which resulted in ground resonance during throttle application. Contributing to the damage of the helicopter were the improper actions of the pilots after encountering ground resonance.

The noninstrument-rated pilot's continued flight into instrument meteorological conditions at night, which resulted in the loss of visual reference to the ground and his subsequent failure to maintain clearance from trees.

The student pilot's failure to remove the tension applied to the cyclic before takeoff, which resulted in a loss of directional control and the tail rotor striking the ground.

A partial loss of engine power during cruise flight for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

The disbondment of a main rotor damper, which resulted in the degradation of its damping action and led to excessive main rotor vibrations and oscillations that caused substantial damage to the helicopter in flight and led to a hard landing.

The loss of translation/rotational power between the engine and the transmission due to the severe wear of the forward spline portion of the lower coupling drive shaft. The reason for the severe wear of the forward spline could not be definitively determined due to fire damage and the loss of associated components, which were not located during the investigation.

The non-helicopter-rated pilot's improper decision to operate the helicopter at low-level and his inability to adequately see the horizon over snow and ice, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain.

The student pilot's failure to initiate the decelerative flare during autorotation and the CFI's delayed remedial action, which resulted in a hard landing.

Ground resonance due to maintenance personnel’s improper inspection of the landing gear dampers, which resulted in the dampers operating outside of allowable limits.

The flight instructor’s inadvertent side-loading of the left skid while demonstrating a running landing, which resulted in a bending overstress fracture of the left skid tube and a subsequent roll-over.

An engine failure due to the separation of the engine crankcase, which resulted from the lateral movement of the center main bearing and the subsequent blocking of the oil feed hole that supplied oil to the No. 2 connecting rod, which then led to its failure due to oil starvation.