Risky Winds

The 9,800-hour pilot — recently hired as chief pilot — was completing an autorotation¹ during a routine training flight when the Aerospatiale AS 350B entered a fully developed vortex ring state (VRS). The training pilot took the controls to exit the VRS, but the helicopter struck the ground, bounced, and struck the ground again, with at least one main rotor blade entering the cabin and fatally striking the newly hired pilot.

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