Helicopter Accident During Practice Autorotation (N125MG)

Incident Overview and Sequence of Events A certified flight instructor (CFI) and a dual-student were conducting practice touchdown autorotations. The pair had completed five practice touchdown autorotations without any incident. During the accident autorotation, the CFI stated that the dual-student had placed the helicopter in an autorotative descent and his cross-check showed normal rotor RPM indications. At 50 feet above the ground, the CFI told the student to perform a progressive deceleration, and at six feet above ground, the CFI instructed the student to cushion the landing. The dual student pulled additional rear cyclic, and the tail stinger struck the ground. As the helicopter rebounded into a nose-low attitude, the CFI pulled collective and aft cyclic to level the helicopter for touchdown. However, a loud noise was heard after the tail stinger hit the ground and the helicopter rebounded. According to the CFI, during the touchdown phase of the autorotation, the main rotor blades made contact with and severed the tail boom. The helicopter landed, and the CFI shut down the engine. The CFI did not report any mechanical malfunctions with the helicopter prior to the accident. ## Reference to FAA Rotorcraft Flying Handbook The FAA Rotorcraft Flying Handbook includes the procedures for a straight-in autorotation. Part of the technique section states that care must be taken in the execution of the flare so that the cyclic control is not moved so slowly as to not arrest the descent, which may allow the helicopter to settle so rapidly that the tail rotor strikes the ground. It also states that extreme caution should be used to avoid an excessive nose-high and tail-low attitude below 10 feet, and to increase collective pitch, as necessary, to check the descent and cushion the landing.