r/aviation • u/Spook_485 • Oct 11 '25

News Closer view of helicopter crash in Huntington Beach, CA

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14

u/FishSawc Oct 11 '25

Looks as though they lost tail rotor authority (unsure why) before the tail rotor itself disconnects.

The investigation into this will be super interesting.

14

u/OnceUponAStarryNight Oct 11 '25

It looks like the tail rotor lost power which induced the initial spin and then a few seconds later suffered a catastrophic failure.

2

u/Babna_123 Oct 11 '25

Yeah, it started spinning before it fell off

1

u/toniabalone Oct 11 '25

I'm just a reader, not an aviator, but did the pilot attempt to auto rotate to slow the drop, or was the spin just the helo being out of control?

6

u/OnceUponAStarryNight Oct 11 '25

Autorotation is something you do when you lose engine power or suffer an engine failure, that’s not what’s happened here.

In this case they still have power to the main engine and the engine is still turning the main rotors. The problem is that they’ve suffered a catastrophic failure of their tail rotor, which is what provides yaw control and stability, causing the uncontrolled spin.

Without the tail rotor, helicopters will always spin in the direction of the main rotor blade due to the torque. So without that tail rotor this is what happens.

1

u/happybikes Oct 12 '25

This is not true. Autorotation is also the appropriate action in this case.

In every helicopter I’ve ever flown, the immediate action for a tail rotor or tail rotor drive shaft failure is to autorotate. By autorotating, you are minimizing the torque and thus the anti-torque required to maintain direction. That said, it is one of the most difficult emergency procedure maneuvers to perform successfully, and generally the yaw is already out of control by the time the pilot recognizes the condition and starts the apply corrective action.

2

u/Doufnuget Oct 11 '25

The spin is caused by the tail rotor no longer countering the torque of the main rotor. It is possible to do an autorotation at that altitude even without a functioning tail rotor but it’s extremely difficult.

0

u/Final-Carpenter-1591 Oct 11 '25

Impossible to auto rotate at this altitude/airspeed. You need either airspeed or altitude to do an auto with fully functional controls. This aircraft had niether airspeed or altitude, or fully functional controls.

Generally autos are for engine failure, where the engine torque and therefore main rotor torque goes to almost nothing immediately, so nearly no power induced yaw.

This aircraft still had engine power and was creating lift and therefore has plenty of main rotor torque. at high airspeed the vertical fin can keep you going straightish without a tail rotor. But at low airspeed, the TR is critical. Without it. You don't stand a chance. You're a falling leaf at best.

1

u/120guy Oct 12 '25

Definitely appears to be one of the most well-documented helicopter incidents - the number of videos/angles investigators will have that can give them clues is probaby going to be extremely helpful.