In 1961, Hughes was one of the twelve companies that submitted proposals to meet U.S. Army TS-153 requirement for a four-seat turbine-powered light observation helicopter. Model 369 was developed and flew first on February 27, 1963. Five machines of this type were ordered as OH-6A for the evaluation programme. The OH-6A Cayuse powered by an Allison T63-A-5A turboshaft was the winner of the U.S. Army's contest in May 1965. Deliveries commenced in September 1966 to meet an initial three-year commitment for 1071 machines. Next to the military OH-6A Hughes developed a larger, five-passenger civilian version. Initially designated as the 369H and 369A during the development stage, it emerged on the market as the Hughes 500. In 1968 the 500C with the more powerful Allison 250-C20 engine was introduced. In 1977 the 500D entered the market with a new five-bladed rotor system and the Allison 250-C20B engine. In 1982, Hughes introduced both the 500E with the Allison 250-C20B and the 530F with the more powerful Allison 250-C30 engine. On 6 January 1984, Hughes Helicopters became a subsidiary of McDonnell Douglas, and subsequently re-designated the McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company. The Hughes 500 thus became the MD500. With McDonnell Douglas' merger with Boeing in 1997 the MD 900 became a Boeing product. In a restructuring exercise for the new company it was decided to disposal of the civil helicopter business. On 16 February 1999, the new formed MD Helicopters Inc., an indirect subsidiary of the RDM Group of Joep van den Nieuwenhuijzen, the Netherlands, purchased the light helicopter operations from The Boeing Company, including the MD 900 Explorer. In 2004, the MD Helicopters Inc of Mesa, Arizona ran into turbulence when technical problems delayed the delivery of 13 helicopters to customers in Germany and the Netherlands. The US investment firm Patriarch Partners LLC bought in July 2005 a majority stake in MD Helicopters from the RDM Holdings N.V., and started revitalizing the company. By March 2022, the manufacturer filed for US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for restructuration, to be acquired by a creditor consortium led by Bardin Hill Investment Partners and MBIA Insurance, providing around $60 million of financing as debtors. Starting with a substantial mid-2022 leadership overhaul and restructuring the company, from August 2022, MD Helicopters emgerged from bankruptcy.
The ICAO Aircraft Type Designator for the Hughes 369HS is H500

In March 1971, the Hughes 369HS c/n 70-0241S was registered D-HMRG in Germany. On 4 April 2009, the 1970-built Hughes D-HMRG was damaged beyond repair in an emergency landing at Hasenmoor/Wolfsberg in Germany. On 8February 2011, registration D-HMRG was cancelled.
On 5 September 2002, Hughes 369HS D-HMRG was seen at the Heli-Holland heliport near Emmen, the Netherlands.

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