N777UH

On August 25, 2005, approximately 1700 mountain daylight time, a Robinson R22, N777UH, piloted by a private pilot, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain at Meadow Lake Airport (00V), near Falcon, Colorado. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 on a visual flight rules flight plan. The pilot and passenger sustained minor injuries. The cross-country flight originated at Augusta, Kansas, at 1000, and was en route to Denver, Colorado.

According to the pilot, he was conducting a hovering maneuver. He said everything was normal until the helicopter was in a 5 foot hover above the surface moving at a "fast walking pace". The helicopter descended to approximately 2 feet above the surface when the pilot pulled in more power to arrest the descent. The helicopter skipped off of the surface, the low-rotor warning light illuminated, and the aural horn sounded. The helicopter turned to the right, the right skid struck the ground, then bounced back on to its left skid, and rolled over on its left side. The pilot stated that he could smell fuel so his passenger turned off the fuel switch while he turned off all the electrical switches. He stated that he could not get his seatbelt unbuckled because it was too close to the collective. He eventually ripped the collective up to release the seatbelt buckle.

According to an FAA inspector who traveled to the scene, both rotor blades were destroyed, the airframe was bent, the tail boom was twisted, both skids were bent, the firewall was buckled, the collective stop was broken, and the tail rotor shaft and flex plate were twisted.