Accident Overview
On 26 October 2001 at 1315 UTC, a Robinson R22 Beta, registration G-RVRS, was involved in an incident at Duxford Airfield, Cambridgeshire. The aircraft, manufactured in 1990, was powered by one Lycoming O-320-B2C piston engine. The flight was private, with one pilot and one passenger on board. Both occupants were uninjured. The helicopter suffered damage to the main rotor and the tail boom separated.
Flight Crew
The commander held a Private Pilot's Licence and was 34 years old. His total flying experience was 103 hours, of which 95 were on type. In the last 90 days he had flown 10 hours, and in the last 28 days, 2 hours.
Sequence of Events
The pilot was carrying out a series of autorotations to engine-off landing simulations, accompanied by a flying instructor acting as a safety pilot. Seven successful sequences were completed without incident. During the final manoeuvre, the helicopter was flared slightly too early, which resulted in it contacting the ground heavily in a tail-low attitude with a low rotor speed. The helicopter bounced, and the main rotor struck the tail boom. The aircraft yawed and bounced again, but came to rest upright with the tail boom severed. There were no injuries to the occupants.
Meteorological Information
An aftercast from the Met Office indicated that at the time of the accident, the surface wind was from 190° at 15 to 20 kt, with possible gusts to 30 kt.
Damage
The nature of damage included damage to the main rotor and the tail boom separated from the aircraft.
Investigation
The information source was an Aircraft Accident Report Form submitted by the pilot and further enquiries by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch. No probable cause was stated in the source.