Accident Details
A helicopter rated flight instructor with 1,425 hours of flight experience and a private helicopter pilot with 130 hours were conducting a local instructional flight in a piston-engine powered helicopter. The instructor planned to demonstrate a hovering autorotation with forward speed.
Sequence of Events
According to the instructor's report, after initiating the maneuver, he failed to level the aircraft. As the helicopter descended, the toes of the landing skids contacted the ground. The helicopter then continued rotating forward until the main rotor blades impacted the ground. As the helicopter rocked back, the main rotor blades struck the tail-rotor driveshaft.
Instructor's Report
In the accident report, the instructor stated that the accident could have been prevented if the aircraft had no forward speed, if the aircraft had touched down in a level attitude, or if the maneuver had been performed over a hard surface.