Accident Details
A student pilot was conducting his third supervised solo flight in a helicopter. During the flight, he completed two takeoffs and landings without incident. On the third landing attempt, after the helicopter made contact with the ground, it began to vibrate violently. The student pilot was unable to stop the vibration before the helicopter started to break apart.
The accident was witnessed by the student pilot's flight instructor, who used a hand-held radio to instruct the student to lift the helicopter back into the air in an attempt to recover from the vibration. The attempt was unsuccessful.
Investigation
Post-accident examination of the helicopter's landing skid dampers revealed that they were improperly charged. The helicopter had been operated for 371 hours since its most recent annual inspection, which was performed approximately six months prior to the accident. Additionally, the helicopter had been operated for 85 hours since its most recent 100-hour inspection.
The student pilot had accumulated a total of 22 hours of flight experience, all of which were in the same make and model as the accident helicopter.