What happened
On November 13, 2014, an Aerospatiale AS350BA, registration N425U, was conducting an instructional flight near Panguitch, Utah. The student pilot was practicing landings with the hydraulic system turned off. During the landing phase, the student pilot lost control of the aircraft's pitch and yaw. The certified flight instructor took control of the helicopter to attempt to recover, but was unable to prevent the aircraft from rotating and striking the ground. The impact caused substantial damage to the main rotor blades and the tail boom. There were 2 minor injuries and 0 fatalities.
The investigation
The flight instructor reported that there were no mechanical failures or preexisting malfunctions present in the helicopter that would have prevented normal operation during the flight.