WPR24LA139

The flight instructor taxied the helicopter from one side of the airport to the other during an instructional flight with a student while the helicopter’s loading was near (about 12 lbs over) its maximum gross weight. As the helicopter approached the intended hover practice area, the instructor began a descending, left pedal turn to align the helicopter into the wind. During the descending turn and while about 10 ft above ground level (agl), the instructor began to add collective to arrest the helicopter’s descent; however, the helicopter continued to descend and impacted the ground with the toe of its right skid, leading to a dynamic rollover. No evidence of pre-accident mechanical malfunction or failure was revealed during a postaccident examination of the helicopter. Thus, given the helicopter’s high gross weight and left turn during the descent (both of which require more antitorque thrust and reduce the amount of engine power available to produce lift), it is likely that the instructor’s action to raise the collective was delayed, which resulted in an inadequate amount of time and altitude for the increased collective to be able to arrest the helicopter’s descent before impact with the ground.

On May 3, 2024, about 1600 Pacific daylight time, a Robinson Helicopter R22, N4082J, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Olympia, Washington. The flight instructor received minor injuries, and the student pilot was uninjured. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. According to the flight instructor, he and the student pilot were conducting a hover training flight at the Olympia Regional Airport (OLM), Olympia, Washington. Before the accident, the instructor taxied the helicopter about 50 ft agl and 50 kts from a practice area in the southwest corner of the airport toward a practice area near the northeast corner of the airport. As the helicopter approached the second practice area from the southwest, the instructor began a descending pedal turn to the left to realign the helicopter into the wind. During the left pedal turn, the helicopter was in a descent and still traveling in a northerly direction. According to the flight instructor, when the helicopter was about 10 ft agl, he began to raise the collective to arrest the helicopter’s descent, but the helicopter “did not seem to respond” and continued to descend. Subsequently, the right skid struck the ground, the helicopter pitched forward, and the main rotor blades struck the ground and tailboom before the helicopter came to rest on its left side. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tailboom and the drivetrain. The flight instructor stated that the helicopter had a maximum gross weight operation limitation of 1,370 lbs, that its weight at takeoff was 1,413 lbs, and that its weight at the time of the accident was 1,382 lbs. He stated that he did not observe any engine rpm drop and estimated that he had added about 85% of the available collective before ground impact. Postaccident examination of the airframe and test run of the engine revealed no evidence of any pre-accident anomaly that would have precluded normal operation. Review of maintenance records show that the most recent maintenance was a 100-hour inspection, performed on April 4, 2024. According to the FAA Helicopter Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-21B), “At higher gross weights, the increased power required to hover produces more torque, which means more antitorque thrust is required…. Strong crosswinds and tailwinds may require the use of more tail rotor thrust to maintain directional control. This increased tail rotor thrust absorbs power from the engine, which means there is less power available to the main rotor for the production of lift….” The handbook also stated that, “the following flight characteristics may be expected during maneuvering flight…: [In] left turns, torque increases (more antitorque).”