Bessemer, AL, USA
N7490F
Hughes 269C
At the successful completion of one practice straight-in autorotation to the grass area between the runway and taxiway, terminating with a power-on three foot hover, the CFI asked the student to repeat the same maneuver. On the second attempt, the student over controlled aft cyclic and caused a tail rotor strike before the CFI could recognize and counter the student's abrupt control input. The rotorcraft entered an uncontrolled right yaw until the landing skid caught the terrain, and rolled over on its right side. The student and CFI evacuated the rotorcraft out the left door, unhurt.
On March 24, 2002, about 1725 central standard time, a Hughes HU-269C, N7490F, registered to a private individual, operating as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, crashed on the Bessemer Airport, Bessemer, Alabama. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The rotorcraft sustained substantial damage, and the flight instructor and student were not injured. The flight originated about 25 minutes before the accident. According to the instructor, the student was practicing power off autorotations to a power on recovery, terminating in a 3-foot hover over a grassy area between runway 23 and the taxiway. On this particular autorotation, the student did not apply power to accomplish the recovery, and the CFI brought in the power to salvage the maneuver. The student applied abrupt back cyclic, and the tail rotor struck the ground, even though the CFI was riding the cyclic controls with the student. Following the tail rotor strike, the rotorcraft started spinning to the right, the right landing skid dug into the terrain, and the rotorcraft rolled over on its right side. There were no malfunctions of the rotorcraft or its components involved. According to an FAA inspector, the student induced the tail rotor strike by over controlling the cyclic control in the aft direction. The responsibility for the maintenance of control rests with the CFI, who allowed the maneuver to progress to a point that possibly exceeded his ability to identify and safely recover.
The failure of the flight instructor to adequately monitor the student's rotorcraft control, resulting in an abrupt cyclic input causing a tail rotor strike of the terrain while entering a hover, and the resulting rollover during an uncontrolled descent.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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