Accident Details
A Robinson R22 helicopter, registration G-BZJK, was involved in an accident at Liverpool Airport on 15 December 2000 at 1524 hours UTC. The aircraft was on a training flight with a student pilot as the sole occupant. The student pilot, aged 37, had 43 total flying hours, all on the Robinson R22, with 19 hours in the last 90 days and 6 hours in the last 28 days. The helicopter, manufactured in 2000, was powered by one Beta II piston engine. Damage was sustained to the canopy and rotor blades. The pilot suffered a minor injury to his left hand.
Flight History
The student pilot had completed approximately one hour of dual instruction earlier in the day. After a break during which the helicopter was refueled, the pilot conducted solo hover landing and take-off practice as consolidation training. He repeated exercises as briefed by his instructor, taking off into a hover and landing on a concrete pad. After several successful repetitions, he hover taxied to a grass training area and repeated the exercise there. Following successful completion, he hover taxied forward two or three metres and brought the helicopter back to a hover.
Accident Narrative
While commencing a vertical descent, one or both skids unexpectedly contacted the ground. The helicopter began to roll to the right. The pilot applied left cyclic pitch control in an attempt to counter the roll. The main rotor blades then struck the ground on the left side of the aircraft, causing the helicopter to roll onto its right side. After the helicopter came to rest, the pilot switched off the fuel, unfastened his restraint harness, and exited through the left-hand door. The airfield Rescue and Fire Fighting Service arrived within one minute.
Injuries and Damage
The pilot sustained a minor injury to his left hand. The helicopter's canopy and rotor blades were damaged.
Pilot's Assessment
In his report, the pilot considered that the accident occurred due to his limited experience and his overcontrolling when the skids unexpectedly contacted the ground.