What happened
On June 7, 2015, a privately owned Schweizer 269C-1, registered JA7926, conducted a leisure flight that ended in an accident in Miki City, Hyogo Prefecture. The flight originated from Maishima Heliport, with the intention of visiting various locations, including a resort facility in Miki.
Upon arriving at the resort, the pilot landed the aircraft in a baseball field without obtaining the required legal permissions for landing at a non-aerodrome location or flying below minimum safety altitudes. During the flight, the pilot allowed an unqualified passenger to hold the cyclic stick to experience flight control. While hovering at an altitude of approximately 2 to 3 meters, the pilot momentarily released his grip on the cyclic stick. Startled by this movement, the passenger also released the control.
As the aircraft's nose pitched downward, the pilot reflexively pulled the cyclic stick toward himself without properly adjusting the corrective pitch lever. This sudden maneuver caused the aircraft to pitch up sharply while losing altitude, leading the tail section to strike the ground. The impact caused the aircraft to overturn onto its left side, resulting in one serious injury to the passenger and significant damage to the rotor blades, tail boom, and tail rotor gearbox.