What happened
On June 17, 2008, an instructional cross-country flight involving a Robinson R-22 Beta, registration N4000Y, was returning to its home base following a refueling stop at an airport near sea level. During the flight, the crew decided to perform a pinnacle landing on a mountain with an elevation of 4,060 feet.
At the time of the departure, weather conditions were VMC with winds from 300 degrees at 16 knots, gusting to 20 knots, and visibility of 10 statute miles. As the student pilot approached the mountain peak for the landing, the aircraft encountered a downdraft. This caused the main rotor disk low RPM indicators to activate. The flight instructor took control of the aircraft to attempt to recover, but the landing skid struck the terrain. The helicopter subsequently rolled twice down the mountainside. The flight instructor and the student sustained 2 minor injuries and were not fatal.