CEN13LA523

After the flight instructor initiated a simulated autorotation during an instructional flight, he instructed the student pilot to perform a power recovery. However, the student pilot delayed increasing the power, and the rotor rpm decayed. The flight instructor realized that it was too late to make a full recovery, so he took the flight controls and leveled the helicopter for touchdown and pulled the collective. The helicopter landed hard in a soft field, which resulted in damage to the tail rotor and main rotor blades. The flight instructor stated that he deviated from his normal procedure for recovery from a simulated forced landing and that, if he had used the procedure, the accident may not have happened.

On August 28, 2013, at 0845 central daylight time, a Bell-Transworld Helicopter Corp. 47G-2, N8051E, impacted terrain during a simulated autorotation to a field near Wichita Falls, Texas. The helicopter received substantial damage to the main rotor blades. The flight instructor and student pilot were uninjured. The helicopter was registered to and operated by the student pilot under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as an instructional flight that was not operating on a flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The flight originated from Wichita Falls, Texas, about 0830. According to the National Transportation Safety Board Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report that was received from the flight instructor, he and the student pilot departed from the student's hangar area for an instructional flight. Upon climbing to 500 feet above ground level, they flew to a private airstrip called Danaher, which was near the southwest end of Lake Wichita. After a normal approach and hovering practice, they flew toward the west to a small pinnacle to practice landings. At 500 feet above ground level, over a clear area, they initiated a simulated forced landing. The flight instructor reduced the throttle and announced a forced landing and that the student was to perform a power recovery. The flight instructor realized that it was too late to make a full recovery, and he leveled the helicopter for touchdown and pulled collective. The touchdown was slightly tail low, and the ground was soft and level. The full fuel load caused the skid heels to sink a few inches causing the tail rotor guard to break, allowing the tail rotor blades to contact the ground. The tail rotor guard contacted and damaged both main rotor blades. The flight instructor stated he deviated from his normal procedure for recovery from a simulated forced landing. That procedure was: 1. After lowering the engine rpm and announcing forced landing. 2. Ensuring collective is in full down position and rotor rpm was stable and in the green arc. 3. Return engine rpm to a near operating rpm. 4. Ensure that the airspeed for autorotations is established and maintained to landing flare. The student pilot held a private pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine land rating. He accumulated a total flight time of about 330 hours, of which 269 hours were in single-engine airplanes and 61 hours were in rotorcraft. The 61 hours of rotorcraft were all in the make and model of the accident helicopter.