History of the Flight
An instructor and a student were conducting a local training flight in a Hughes 269C helicopter at Okotoks Air Park near Okotoks, Alberta. The flight was in preparation for the student's Transport Canada flight test for a commercial rotary wing licence. Over the course of more than one hour, the student had successfully completed five full-on autorotations to touchdown.
During a 180-degree-turning autorotation, the student's approach was short of the intended landing area. The student initiated the flare and did not level the helicopter prior to touchdown. The instructor attempted to push the cyclic forward to level the helicopter, but the tail rotor blades struck the ground while the helicopter was still in a flared attitude. The helicopter then climbed rapidly to about 50 feet above ground level, rotated to the right, pitched nose down, and crashed into the ground. The helicopter came to a stop, and the instructor and student sustained minor injuries after being sprayed with avgas from a punctured fuel tank. They were able to exit the helicopter unassisted.
Injuries and Damage
The instructor and student sustained minor injuries. The helicopter was substantially damaged. Wreckage and debris were scattered over the ramp and taxiway in front of the hangar and parked aircraft, but no other aircraft were damaged.
Personnel Information
The instructor was 57 years old, held a commercial pilot licence, and had accumulated 18,000 total flying hours, including 4,000 hours on the Hughes 269C. The student was 59 years old, also held a commercial pilot licence, and had 8,000 total flying hours, mostly on fixed-wing aircraft, with 36 hours on the Hughes 269C. The instructor had extensive instructing experience, while the student had switched from fixed-wing to rotary wing training. Neither could explain why the helicopter touched down so far short of the intended landing area.
Aircraft Information
The helicopter was a Hughes 269C, manufactured in 1981, with a valid certificate of airworthiness. It was equipped with a single Avco Lycoming HIO-360-D1A engine and a Schweizer rotor system. The helicopter's weight and center of gravity were within limits, and it had fully functional dual flight controls. The emergency locator transmitter was found switched off but tested serviceable.
Meteorological and Aerodrome Information
The weather was not a factor; wind was light and variable, temperature 20 °C. The Okotoks Air Park has a single runway and a taxiway used for helicopter training and autorotations. The accident occurred at an elevation of 3,601 feet above sea level.
Wreckage and Impact
The helicopter, on a magnetic heading of 060 degrees in a nose-high flare, descended until the tail rotor blades struck a paved access road about 50 feet from the edge of the ramp and 300 feet short of the intended landing area on the taxiway. The tail rotor blades were destroyed, and the drive shaft twisted and uncoupled. The helicopter traveled another 84 feet onto the ramp before stopping. Pieces of the tail rotor and tail boom were found 180 feet farther along the wreckage trail.
Survival Aspects
The cockpit remained intact, and both occupants exited on their own. Witnesses with fire extinguishers and first aid kits arrived quickly. The student was examined and released later that day; the instructor was released the following day.
Board Determination
The student pilot misjudged the altitude and distance from the intended landing area during the practice autorotation, and the instructor did not take the necessary corrective action in time to avoid the tail rotor strike and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.