20230408015279A

Investigation: I was notified of an accident that came to this office through a phone call from the regional operations center (roc) on 04/08/2023. On 04/08/ 2023, the instructor pilot of a Robinson R-22 beta 2 helicopter was flying on a part 141 training flight with a student from the ogden, Utah airport (kogd) to the heber city airport (khcr). While flying to the heber city airport, the instructor pilot spotted a ridgeline that looked like a good spot to practice pinnacle landings for training with his commercial student pilot. The ridgeline was at an altitude of 9,000 feet MSL. The student was on the controls and began to orbit the pinnacle landing area to determine hazards, wind direction and suitability for landing at the location. The instructor pilot stated that at the time of the landing it appeared that the winds were light and coming from the direction of north. The student began an approach to the north to make a landing on the pinnacle. While the aircraft was over the landing site, the instructor pilot stated that the aircraft made a rapid, un-commanded right yaw indicative of loss of tail rotor effectiveness (lte). The instructor stated that both he and the student simultaneously lowered the collective and pushed forward cyclic to gain forward airspeed to fly away from the pinnacle. The instructor stated that in their effort to gain forward airspeed, the low rotor RPM audio warning went off and the aircraft failed to gain altitude. The aircraft continued to descent and the instructor applied full collective as the aircraft impacted the snow-capped pinnacle with forward motion. The aircraft slid forward and rolled right where the main rotor impacted the terrain. Both pilots exited the aircraft unharmed. The instructor stated that after the accident, he and the student climbed to the top of the ridgeline where they both noticed gusts of wind from the west which would have impacted the left side of the aircraft on their approach to the pinnacle.