What happened
On 24 April 1999, a Robinson R22 Beta, registration G-GDAY, was involved in an accident at Blackpool Airport during a private training flight. The pilot, a student with approximately 30 hours of total flying experience, had previously flown from Coventry to Blackpool with an instructor earlier that day. After a short break, the student was permitted to conduct solo maneuvers, specifically focusing on hovering and spot turns at the airport's designated practice area.
Upon starting the engine and attempting to transition into a hover, the student lost control of the helicopter almost immediately. In an attempt to recover, the pilot fully lowered the collective lever, causing the aircraft to strike the ground with significant force. The impact caused the helicopter to bounce back into the air, where it assumed a vertical pitch attitude before falling a second time in a tail-low orientation. The severity of the impact caused the landing skids to break, the tail boom to detach from the fuselage, and the main rotor blades to separate after the mast fractured. The aircraft was destroyed.
Following the impact, the pilot observed what appeared to be smoke emanating from the engine compartment. The pilot promptly isolated the electrical systems and exited the aircraft through the right-hand door while the helicopter lay on its left side. The airport's crash alarm was activated by the aerodrome controller, and the airport fire service arrived promptly to apply foam to the engine area as a preventative measure. The pilot sustained no injuries.
The investigation
The investigation was based on the aircraft accident report submitted by the pilot. Investigators noted that while the student's instructor was in the vicinity during the flight, the instructor did not witness the actual sequence of the accident. The investigation focused on the flight maneuvers being performed and the physical damage sustained by the airframe during the two impacts.