What happened
On 23 June 2003, a Robinson R22 Alpha, registration G-BLTF, was engaged in a training flight at Blackpool Airport. The flight involved an instructor demonstrating recovery techniques to a student pilot. The exercise focused on managing a downwind drift during a spot turn maneuver, with surface winds reported at 270°/18 kt.
To provide a safety margin for potential sinking, the instructor positioned the helicopter into the wind at a skid height of approximately 20 feet. The maneuver began with a left-hand spot turn, during which the helicopter was intentionally allowed to drift downwind for the first 180° of the turn. As the turn continued, the pilot applied forward cyclic control to stop the rearward movement. However, once the helicopter was facing back into the wind, it was still moving rearwards at a ground speed of 10 kt.
This rearward motion caused the rotor disc to flap forward, resulting in a nose-down pitch. The aircraft descended until the front of the skids struck the ground. The impact caused the helicopter to bounce to a height of 5 feet and rotate 270° to the right before hitting the ground again. The aircraft came to rest approximately 15 meters downwind from the start of the maneuver. The impact resulted in substantial damage to the airframe, including one detached skid, though there were no injuries to the two crew members.
The investigation
The investigation was based on the aircraft accident report form provided by the pilot. Investigators examined the sequence of the maneuver and the aerodynamic response of the aircraft to the ground speed and cyclic inputs. The investigation established that the helicopter's movement and subsequent pitch change were directly linked to the unexpected ground speed during the recovery phase of the spot turn.