NTSB Factual Report

The certified flight instructor (CFI) was providing instruction to the student pilot who had 3 hours of total flight time. The student pilot was practicing “pickups and set downs.” During an attempted pickup, the left skid did not lift off, and the helicopter experienced a dynamic rollover. The helicopter rolled over on its left side and sustained substantial damage to its primary fuselage structure. The operator of the helicopter reported that at the time of the accident, the student pilot had not learned how to hover. According to the company’s flight training syllabus, the CFI should not have been providing instruction in pickups and set downs until the student pilot was able to safely hover the helicopter.

NTSB Probable Cause

The student pilot's control inputs that resulted in an inadvertent dynamic rollover and the CFI's inadequate supervision of the flight.