Incident Overview
On 5 December 2010 at 1230 hrs, a Robinson R44 Raven II helicopter (registration G-ODHB) was involved in an accident at Staverton Airfield, Gloucestershire. The aircraft was engaged in a training flight with a single student pilot on board; no passengers were carried.
Sequence of Events
The student pilot reported that while hover taxiing, the right-hand forward entry door opened. He instinctively looked toward the door and momentarily removed his hand from the cyclic control to try to grab it. By the time he looked forward again, the helicopter was in an unusual attitude, and he was unable to prevent it from contacting the ground heavily.
Aircraft Damage
The helicopter sustained damage to the tailskid tube and the left aft landing gear fairing. No injuries to the pilot were reported.
Post-Incident Inspection
The helicopter operator later examined the door latch mechanism and was unable to fault its operation.
Aircraft and Pilot Information
The Robinson R44 Raven II was manufactured in 2005 and powered by one Lycoming IO-540-AE1A5 piston engine. The student pilot, aged 63, held a Student licence and had a total flying experience of 78 hours, all on type, with 11 hours in the last 90 days and 6 hours in the last 28 days.
Source
Information for this article was derived from an Aircraft Accident Report Form submitted by the pilot and published in the AAIB Bulletin 4/2011 (reference EW/G2010/12/03).