Hughes 269C crash near Alcácer do Sal, Portugal

A Hughes 269C on a training flight south of the Sado estuary was practising simulated engine failures when the engine actually stopped during the first autorotation and could not be restarted at the low height available. The instructor took control and landed beside a pine wood. The touchdown was heavy, the lower fuselage struck a small pine, the tail boom broke in several places and the helicopter ran on before stopping upright with the main rotor mast in the ground. Neither occupant was hurt.