N5990 is a Bell 47G-2. It is a rotorcraft with 3 seats, powered by a Lycoming VO-435 series rated at 260 horsepower. The registration is active, with the registrant based in Dassel, MN. Its standard airworthiness certificate was issued in Apr 1996. It has been registered to its current owner since Jul 2024. This page also carries 1 NTSB event.
2024
1996
That's everything on file so far — TailWiki checks the FAA registry daily and adds new entries as N5990's record changes.
The student helicopter pilot reported that he hovered to the parking pad and landed with the nose of the helicopter facing north. The skid placement on the parking pad was incorrect, and the instructor directed the student to reposition the helicopter about 3ft to the left. The student brought the helicopter to a hover and repositioned the helicopter 3ft to the left.
However, before the student established a descent and landed, the helicopter encountered a tailwind gust. The nose pitched down, the rotor rpm decreased, and the helicopter traveled about 75ft forward. The skids contacted the ground hard, and the helicopter came to an abrupt stop, upright and facing downslope. The main rotor blades struck the tail rotor drive shaft and the tailboom. The tail rotor gear box and the tail rotor separated from the helicopter.
The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tail rotor drive system, the tailboom, and the main rotor blades.
The airport's Meteorological Aerodrome Report, about the time of the accident, reported that the wind was from 180° at 15 knots, and the cloud layer was broken at 800ft. The predominant wind about 30 minutes prior to the accident was from 170° at 13 knots. One-hour prior, the wind was from 160 at 09 knots.
The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
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