20011201034399A

(.19) On December 1, 2001, at 1030 central standard time, a Bell 47D1 helicopter, N5226, was substantially damaged during a practice autorotational landing at the Ardmore Downtown Executive Airport near Ardmore, Oklahoma. The helicopter was registered to a private individual and operated by versatile helicopters, inc., dba versatile aviation of Ardmore, Oklahoma. The flight instructor and the private pilot rated student were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan was not filed for the 14 code of federal regulations part 91 instructional flight. The local flight originated from the Ardmore Downtown Executive Airport, approximately one hour prior to the accident. According to preliminary information, the flight instructor initiated an autorotation to the south. As the helicopter touched down on the soft grassy area between the runway and taxiway, the helicopter started to nose over. The instructor "over corrected" with aft cyclic, and the helicopter rocked backward collapsing the skid landing gear and separating the tailboom from the fuselage. (-23) during a practiced auto-rotation during touch down to the south, the skids dug into the soft surface. In an attempt to prevent the helicopter from rolling over forward the pilot over corrected and the rotor blades hit the tail boom and sheared the tail boom off. There was no injuries to the 2 people on board at the time of the accident. Damage to the aircraft was the tail section damage, the skids were bent and broken, the accessory section was broken on the engine, and the rotor blades were heavily damaged. (.4) on December 1, 2001, at 1030 central standard time, a Bell 47G helicopter, N5226, was substantially damaged during a practice autorotational landing at the Ardmore Downtown Executive Airport near Ardmore, Oklahoma. The helicopter was registered to a private individual and operated by versatile helicopters, inc., dba versatile aviation of Ardmore, Oklahoma. The flight instructor and the private pilot rated student were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan was not filed for the 14 code of federal regulations part 91 instructional flight. The local flight originated from the Ardmore Downtown Executive Airport, approximately one hour prior to the accident. The student pilot had completed three power recovery autorotations to the south, and the flight instructor was to demonstrate "a full touchdown autorotation" to end the training session. The flight instructor initiated the autorotation at 1,500 feet MSL and 60 knots to the mid-field median. After slowing to 40 knots, the instructor began a flare to reduce the airspeed to 15-20 knots. At 10 feet AGL, he pulled collective to cushion the landing. The helicopter touched down on the soft grassy area and slid for approximately 10 feet before starting to nose over. "The tail of the helicopter pitched upward into the blades, severing it." The helicopter rotated left approximately 270 degrees before coming to rest upright. The flight instructor stated that "weather had saturated the ground and caused the sod to be soft on the usual landing area. It was not visible from the helicopter."