What happened
During an instructional flight, a student pilot was attempting to hover a helicopter at approximately 3 feet above ground level. At the time, winds were reported as variable between 2 and 3 knots. A sudden gust caused the aircraft to wobble, prompting the instructor to take control.
A subsequent wind gust turned the aircraft downwind. As the instructor attempted to land, the wind continued to drive the helicopter forward with an excessive nose-low attitude. Because the tail rotor was positioned into the wind, it created high power demand and limited tail rotor authority. The aircraft skipped along the dirt surface two or three times, causing the right strut to fail and resulting in the aircraft rolling over on its right side.
While the instructor reported wind gusts of up to 60 knots, weather observations from a location 8 miles south of the accident site indicated winds of 260 degrees at 13 knots, gusting to 25 knots. There were no injuries reported in the accident.