Incident Details
A student pilot and a flight instructor were conducting autorotation training in a helicopter. The student successfully completed three autorotations to a hover. During the fourth attempt, the student pilot landed hard with a yaw to the left. The flight instructor was unable to correct the yaw, and the helicopter impacted the ground, resulting in damage to the tail boom.
Reporting Delay
The accident was not reported at the time it occurred. Approximately 30 days later, the same flight instructor was involved in a similar accident in the same helicopter. Following this second incident, the earlier unreported accident came to light.
Mechanical Condition
No mechanical deficiencies were reported by either the flight instructor or the student pilot regarding the helicopter's condition before or during the accident flights.
The investigation did not identify any mechanical issues that could have contributed to the hard landing and yaw.