What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
R-22 helicopter hover autorotation:the CFI was PIC for the flight with a student in which simulated power failures at a hover (hovering autorotations) were being practiced. The student rolled throttle to idle position, but simultaneously pulled up collective and the helicopter drifted slightly left. The CFI corrected too much to the right and allowed the helicopter to continue a sideward drift to the right. Additionally, the CFI did not point the helicopter in the same direction of drift. Consequently, when the helicopter touched the ground, it touched down on the right skid only and with a sideward drift pausing momentarily before rolling onto the right side of the helicopter. Since the rotor blades were still turning, there was significant damage to the rotor blades themselves as they hit the ground, but they also damaged the cockpit bubble windows and instrument panel as the blades came through the cockpit. No injuries were sustained by either the CFI or student.
As the FAA filed it
R-22 HELICOPTER HOVER AUTOROTATION:THE CFI WAS PIC FOR THE FLIGHT WITH A STUDENT IN WHICH SIMULATED POWER FAILURES AT A HOVER (HOVERING AUTOROTATIONS) WERE BEING PRACTICED. THE STUDENT ROLLED THROTTLE TO IDLE POSITION, BUT SIMULTANEOUSLY PULLED UP COLLECTIVE AND THE HELICOPTER DRIFTED SLIGHTLY LEFT. THE CFI CORRECTED TOO MUCH TO THE RIGHT AND ALLOWED THE HELICOPTER TO CONTINUE A SIDEWARD DRIFT TO THE RIGHT. ADDITIONALLY, THE CFI DID NOT POINT THE HELICOPTER IN THE SAME DIRECTION OF DRIFT.CONSEQUENTLY, WHEN THE HELICOPTER TOUCHED THE GROUND, IT TOUCHED DOWN ON THE RIGHT SKID ONLY AND WITH A SIDEWARD DRIFT PAUSING MOMENTARILY BEFORE ROLLING ONTO THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE HELICOPTER. SINCE THE ROTOR BLADES WERE STILL TURNING, THERE WAS SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO THE ROTOR BLADES THEMSELVES AS THEY HIT THE GROUND, BUT THEY ALSO DAMAGED THE COCKPIT BUBBLE WINDOWS AND INSTRUMENT PANEL AS THE BLADES CAME THROUGH THE COCKPIT.NO INJURIES WERE SUSTAINED BY EITHER THE CFI OR STUDENT.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.