Aircraft and Crew
The helicopter involved was a Robinson R22 Beta, registration G-PACL, manufactured in 1991 and powered by a single Lycoming O-320-B2C piston engine. The commander, a 32-year-old Commercial Pilot's Licence holder, had 322 hours total flying experience, with 275 hours on type. He had flown 23 hours in the last 90 days and 7 hours in the last 28 days.
The flight was a training mission with two crew on board and no passengers.
History of the Flight
After approximately 35 minutes of hover practice with a student, the instructor positioned the helicopter over a grassed area near the taxiway at Liverpool Airport to conduct Exercise 11c of the training syllabus. This exercise covers hover and taxi emergencies, including a simulated engine failure in the hover. The instructor first landed to check the surface was suitable and briefed the student on the plan: the student would operate the cyclic, collective, and yaw controls, while the instructor operated the throttle. The instructor also stated that he would keep his hands and feet on the controls to quickly resume control if needed.
The instructor performed three demonstrations with the student following through on the controls. The student then took control as briefed, and the instructor initiated the exercise by saying "practise engine failure go" before smoothly closing the throttle. The instructor reported that the student controlled the yaw well, but he felt the student apply a left input into the cyclic control. As the helicopter descended, the left skid touched the ground first. The instructor immediately applied a right cyclic input to try to level the helicopter, coinciding with the student raising the collective to cushion the landing. The helicopter then rolled about the left skid and gently came to rest on its left side.
Aftermath and Damage
The instructor shut down the engine and turned off the fuel. The instructor and student vacated the helicopter through the aperture left by the windscreen. The instructor sustained a superficial cut to his knee during the accident. Both main rotor blades and the windscreen were damaged.