Charleston, SC, USA
N337H
ROBINSON HELICOPTER R22
During an instructional flight in the helicopter, the student pilot was on the controls. The flight instructor said the student had transitioned from a hover through effective transitional lift and established forward flight and then initiated a right turn. He added that, during the right turn, he and the student saw a small, white unmanned aerial system (UAS) about 10 ft in front of the helicopter at "eye level." The instructor took the flight controls and made a hard right and aft cyclic input. After the evasive maneuver, the helicopter had very little forward airspeed. The helicopter was about 40 ft above ground level as it began settling with power. The helicopter descended, and the tail rotor entered trees. The helicopter then developed a right spin, and the instructor rolled the throttle off to alleviate the spin and then increased the collective to try to cushion the landing. Subsequently, the helicopter impacted the ground and rolled over onto its right side. A UAS was not recovered. It is likely that the instructor's abrupt maneuver led to the loss of forward airspeed and the helicopter's subsequent descent into trees, which resulted in the right spin from which the instructor could not recover before impact with terrain.
On February 14, 2018 about 1336 eastern standard time (EST), a Robinson Helicopters Inc., R22 Beta, N337H, landed hard in dense vegetation and the tailboom separated from the fuselage. The accident occurred about 5 miles southeast of Charleston Air Force/International Airport, South Carolina. The helicopter was registered to Spitzer Helicopter and was being operated by Holy City Helicopters as a visual flight rules (VFR), local instructional flight, under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight instructor and student were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, and flight following was not in effect. The flight instructor reported that he had conducted training in the area previously and was familiar with the terrain and obstacles. The flight lesson was conducted to practice hovering, followed by a transition to forward flight. The instructor reported that the wind was from the west/northwest about 10 knots, and that the direction of takeoff was into the wind. According to the instructor, during the accident pattern the student had the flight controls and had transitioned the helicopter from a hover through effective translational lift and established forward flight. The student then initiated a right turn over dense vegetation when a small unmanned aerial system (UAS), which he described as a white quadcopter, appeared about 10ft in front of the helicopter at "eye level". The instructor took the flight controls and made a hard right and aft cyclic input to avoid the UAS. The evasive maneuver put the helicopter into a right quartering tailwind. After the evasive maneuver, the helicopter had some forward airspeed, "but not much". He was able to level the helicopter's attitude, but the helicopter began to descend quickly. The helicopter was about 40ft AGL and the instructor described the helicopter's descent as settling with power. The helicopter descended, and the tail rotor entered the trees and the helicopter developed a spin to the right. The instructor rolled the throttle off to alleviate the spin, and then tried to cushion the landing by increasing collective. The helicopter impacted the ground, continued spinning to the right, and subsequently rolled over onto its right-side. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tail rotor drive shaft. The student pilot reported that they were operating over an access road and that she had initiated a right turn, "when a small white drone came into our field of vision". The instructor immediately took the flight controls and increased the bank angle of the right turn to avoid the UAS. As the helicopter "swung around" to miss the UAS, the tail rotor stuck the tree tops, and they lost tail rotor authority. The instructor entered an autorotation, and the helicopter collided with trees. The helicopter descended in a spin, impacted terrain and rolled on to its right side. The day following the accident, Federal Aviation Administration, Aviation Safety Inspector's canvassed the vicinity of the accident, to include a housing development about ¼ mile from the accident site. The housing development was under construction and one member of the construction team remembered seeing the helicopter operating in the area about the time of the accident. There were several construction crews working during the time of the accident, and none of them recalled seeing a "drone". The flight instructor reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation prior to the tail rotor strike. A canvas of the area by the FAA did not find any information about the Unmanned Aerial System or witnesses.
The flight instructor’s abrupt evasive maneuver to avoid a reported unmanned aerial system, which resulted in a loss of forward airspeed and settling with power and a subsequent collision with trees and terrain.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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