Robinson Helicopter R22 BETA N345VH accident near Tampa, Florida

Probable cause

The student pilot’s delayed throttle application during the practice autorotation and the flight instructor’s lack of immediate remedial action, which resulted in a hard landing.

NTSB analysis

The flight instructor and her student were practicing autorotations. The student entered a practice autorotation at 500 feet above ground level (agl) and at 70 knots. About 40 feet agl, the student bled off airspeed by flaring the helicopter. The student advanced the throttle, but the rpm started to decay. The instructor had her hands on the controls and added throttle to arrest the rpm decay. When the rpm continued to decay, she took the controls and performed a hovering autorotation. The helicopter impacted a grassy area next to the runway, bounced, and rolled over, coming to an immediate stop. The fuselage and main rotor sustained substantial damage. The flight instructor reported that there was excessive play in the left throttle and that she had reported the condition to the operator’s mechanic twice previously. Examination of the throttle system found it to be in an airworthy condition.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA13LA104 for the full record.