FRESNO, CA, USA
N90452
Robinson R22HP
The pilot was hovering in an approach to the landing area, when the helicopter began moving backwards and descending. He applied power to arrest the movement, but a skid contacted the ground, and the tail boom then collided with the ground. There were no mechanical difficulties found with the helicopter.
On November 24, 1995, at 1050 hours Pacific standard time, a Robinson R-22HP helicopter, N90452, crashed on the landing ramp at the Fresno airport in Fresno, California. The helicopter received substantial damage and the two occupants were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the time. The aircraft had departed an hour earlier for a local pleasure flight. According to the operator, at the bottom of the approach to the landing area, the helicopter started backing up. The heels of the skids caught on the asphalt and the tail rotor hit the ground damaging the aircraft. The pilot stated in his report that before he put the helicopter on the ground from a hover, it started moving back slowly and descended. He applied power to stop the slow descent when one of the skids touched the ground. The helicopter started accelerating backwards and collided with the ground.
failure of the pilot to maintain proper control of the helicopter, while in a hover.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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