N182JR

On May 28, 1998, about 1630 eastern daylight time, a Bell 47G helicopter, N182JR, registered to S&J Investments, operated by Wing and Rotor International as a 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, crashed on landing near Bunnell, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The helicopter sustained substantial damage. The commercial-rated CFI and student pilot reported no injuries. The local flight originated from Flagler County Airport, Bunnell, Florida, at 1600.

The CFI stated he was providing instructions to the student pilot on how to conduct a normal landing. He said that everything was normal until the wind "...probably shifted during the approach". He stated that "...upon loosing E.L.T. (he) came up with the collective and the helicopter settled down without any reaction to the rate of descent". The CFI also said that "...the collective was not efficient". Once the helicopter touched down, it bounced back up. At that moment, the pilot and the student heard the main rotor blade striking the tailboom. The instructor said that he verified that nobody was hurt and proceeded to shut down the engine and inspect the damage.

The FAA inspector that responded to the accident conducted an interview of the CFI. During that interview, the pilot stated that the student pilot had been complaining about the anti torque pedals being too close to his legs, causing a cramp. The CFI decided to land to make the appropriate adjustment. According to the inspector's statement, when the helicopter was 8 to 10 feet over the ground, it started to lose altitude. The CFI claims to have responded by applying pitch. The helicopter landed hard causing substantial damage. The commercial-rated CFI had about 500 hours of rotary flight time. He had 5 hours of instructional time. This was the first instructional flight in the Bell 47 helicopter.

The surface weather observation at Daytona Beach International, 19 nautical miles south of Flagler County Airport, at the time of the accident reported winds from 310 magnetic at 10 knots.