ACS Alignment

FAA-S-ACS-16 — Commercial Pilot, Rotorcraft–Helicopter · Area of Operation VIII. Emergency Operations · Task: A, B & C — Powerplant Failure in a Hover; at Altitude; OEI (Multiengine)

CH.VIII.A.S1 — powerplant failure in a hover (hovering autorotation) CH.VIII.B.S1 — powerplant failure at altitude (autorotation) CH.VIII.C.K1 — OEI approach & landing (multiengine only) CH.VIII.B.R1 — HV diagram, spot selection & entry

⚑ FLAG (Walter): combines Tasks A (Hover), B (At Altitude), and C (OEI, multiengine only) — OEI does not apply to a single-engine R44; confirm codes and applicability.

Powerplant Failures — Hover, Altitude & OEI

Engine-out responses by phase of flight — the hovering autorotation, the en-route autorotation, and (multiengine) OEI.

By the end of this lesson you can:

Respond to a power loss in a hover with a hovering autorotation (cushion and land).
Respond to a power loss at altitude by entering an autorotation (links to Lesson 18).
Explain the OEI approach and landing concept for multiengine helicopters (not the single-engine R44).
Use the height-velocity diagram to understand which phases are most critical.

1 · Failure in a hover

At a normal hover height, an engine failure calls for a hovering autorotation: maintain heading with pedal, allow a brief settle, and cushion the touchdown with collective using the rotor’s stored energy, landing level. The higher and slower you are above the surface, the more critical the timing — this is why the height-velocity diagram exists.

2 · Failure at altitude

At altitude, immediately enter an autorotation (Lesson 18): lower collective, set autorotative airspeed, control RPM, pick the best available spot, and fly the approach/flare/cushion. A commercial pilot is constantly aware of where they would put it down if the engine quit now.

3 · OEI (multiengine only)

In a multiengine helicopter, losing one engine may allow continued flight or a controlled approach and landing on the remaining engine (OEI), depending on weight, DA, and the flight regime. This Task does not apply to the single-engine R44; understand the concept but recognize it is outside this aircraft.

4 · Watch

Curated reference clip — “Landing a Helicopter When the Engine Quits — Autorotation” · Micah Muzio (YouTube), verified via oEmbed. Embedded with the creator’s player; we don’t host or alter it.

5 · Reference sources

Use the authoritative references

📄 Helicopter Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-21) — Emergencies & Autorotation 📄 Robinson R44 POH — Emergency Procedures

Your aircraft: hovering-autorotation technique and the height-velocity diagram are aircraft-specific — note your R44 figures from the POH (Emergency Procedures / Performance).

✍️ Fill in for the aircraft you fly your R44 height-velocity avoid regions and the hovering-autorotation cushion technique — look these up in the R44 POH and confirm with your CFI.

⚑ FLAG (Walter): the R44 is a VFR-certificated piston helicopter; confirm the aircraft/figures the student actually flies and that all numbers come from the current R44 POH.

Risk management (the “Consider”): the engine-failure trap is operating in the HV avoid region (low and slow, or high hover) where a safe autorotation is unlikely, and delayed/incorrect entry. Minimize time in the avoid region, always know your next landing spot, and drill the immediate actions until they are reflexive.