What happened
On August 23, 2024, at approximately 11:30 eastern standard time, a Bell Textron Canada 505, registration N945TC, was involved in an accident near Marianna, Florida. The aircraft was being operated by CAE USA INC as part of a Part 91 instructional flight.
During the flight, a student pilot was performing a practice autorotation at the Marianna Municipal Airport (MAI). According to the flight instructor, the student pilot initiated the landing flare approximately 80 feet above the ground with an appropriate nose-up pitch to reduce airspeed without aggressive rotor buildup. As the helicopter settled, the student pilot applied increased collective and forward nose cyclic to achieve a level landing.
While the initial touchdown on the runway was reported as soft with no bounce or drift, the helicopter began to shake and bounce violently as it continued to slide down the runway. The student pilot and the flight instructor were not injured.
The investigation
A post-accident examination of the aircraft revealed that the tail boom had sustained substantial damage.