Robinson R22 BETA N32VH

Summary

On 15 November 2014 at about 23:00 local time, a Robinson R22 BETA registered N32VH, operated by Guidance Academy, LLC, was involved in an accident near Prescott, Arizona, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

15 November 2014 at 23:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Prescott, Arizona, United States

Coordinates

34.5383, -112.4683

Aircraft

Robinson R22 BETA

Registration

N32VH

Category

Helicopter

Year built

2005

Engines

1

Operator

Guidance Academy, LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Prescott → Prescott

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR15CA043

2 people had minor injuries.

The certified flight instructor's failure to maintain helicopter control during the autorotation which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent roll over.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

During an instructional flight, the certified flight instructor (CFI) was demonstrating a 180-degree autorotation for a pilot rated student. The CFI positioned the helicopter on a downwind, abeam the landing site, about 800 feet above ground and at about 70 knots when he started a right turning autorotation. After turning about 80 degrees the pilot rated student told the CFI that it appeared they were going to land short on the approach. The CFI increased the helicopter's turn rate; however, near the end of the turn, he noticed the rotor RPM was starting to decay and he applied down collective. As the helicopter was rolling out of the turn, it appeared that the helicopter was descending faster than moving forward.  The CFI began the cyclic flare to reduce the descent; however, the helicopter impacted the ground hard and rolled onto its left side. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tailboom and fuselage structure. The CFI reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operations.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.