N322MH – SCHWEIZER 300C – 2013-05-01 NTSB Accident Report

On May 01, 2013, a Schweizer 300C (N322MH) was involved in an incident near Hamilton, MT. All 2 people aboard were uninjured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this incident to be: The student pilot’s failure to maintain helicopter control during a practice autorotation and the flight instructor's delayed remedial action.

The flight instructor reported that during an instructional flight, the helicopter was at 500 feet above ground level when he rolled the throttle off with the intent for the student to respond by initiating a straight in autorotation. The student pilot did not respond properly, so the instructor took over to initiate a power recovery. The helicopter subsequently landed hard, deforming both skids and substantially damaging the airframe. The pilot did not report any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failure with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.

This incident is documented in NTSB report WPR13CA253. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N322MH.