History of Flight
On 27 October 2008 at 1610Z, a student pilot was conducting his third solo circuit training flight at Brits Aerodrome in an Alouette II helicopter (registration ZU-RAH). The pilot approached the concrete block landing area next to runway 20 and positioned the helicopter into a hover approximately 3 meters above the ground. After a short period, the helicopter began to turn left on its vertical axis. The first 180 degrees of the turn were erratic, and then the helicopter spun excessively to the left for about 20 seconds. During this spin, the helicopter gained approximately 2 meters in height before moving toward the eastern side of the runway and descending.
Injuries and Damage
The helicopter landed hard in an upright position on its skids but rolled onto its right-hand side moments later, causing the main rotor blades to strike the ground. The pilot exited the helicopter, then re-entered to shut off the running engine before exiting again. He was transported by NETCARE 911 to a hospital for observation and sustained only minor injuries. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, main rotor blades, tail rotor, landing skids, and airframe. No other damage occurred on the ground.
Probable Cause
The probable cause is that the pilot lost control of the aircraft during adverse wind conditions.