Incident Overview
A flight instructor and a student pilot, who held a private single-engine land certificate, were conducting a dual instructional flight in a helicopter. The lesson involved practicing hovering maneuvers, including hover autorotations and hovering patterns.
Sequence of Events
After completing several hover autorotations and patterns, the instructor pilot (IP) took control of the helicopter. He positioned the aircraft for an autorotation from 500 feet above ground level (AGL) with a planned power recovery. As the autorotation was initiated, a misunderstanding arose regarding who was flying the helicopter and who was following through on the controls. According to the student, he believed he was supposed to follow through on the controls, while the instructor reportedly thought the student had assumed control.
As the helicopter neared the ground, the instructor took control and executed a flare. During touchdown, the tail rotor struck the ground, resulting in damage.
Communication Issues
The student reported that the helicopter's microphone system had previously exhibited an intermittent problem, which was thought to have been repaired. The student believed the problem recurred during the flight and contributed to the misunderstanding between him and the instructor.
Damage and Outcome
The tail rotor struck the ground during the flare and touchdown. No further details on damage extent or injuries were provided in the source.
Findings
The source does not state a probable cause for the accident. The event involved a miscommunication regarding control inputs during a critical training maneuver. The intermittent intercom issue was noted by the student as a possible contributing factor, but no official causal determination is available.