The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its preliminary report on the crash that killed Troy Gentry and the pilot, James Evan Robinson. The report states that, several minutes after takeoff, the pilot reported that he was unable to control engine rpm with throttle inputs. After discussing his landing options with the company flight instructor and another certified flight instructor, the pilot elected to perform a “power-off, auto rotational descent to landing,” a procedure he had done “numerous times in the past.” According to the NTSB, witnesses say that the helicopter entered the auto rotation maneuver at an altitude of roughly 900 feet, and the rotors slowed so much that the individual rotor blades could be seen. The report also details the cockpit’s “significantly deformed by impact damage, and the tailboom was separated at the fuselage.” No flight plan was filed for the personal flight, which, according to the chief flight instructor for the operator, was provided as an “orientation/pleasure flight” to Gentry who was scheduled to perform at the airport later that night. The full NTSB report can be seen here.