Robinson R22 Beta crash near Chicago, IL, United States

The student pilot stated they had been practicing hovering for about 30 minutes, and were about two feet above the ground. He recalled that he was "controlling the cyclic and maybe the collective, but not the pedals." The flight instructor thought they were three to five feet above the ground. The helicopter experienced a pendular motion and began traveling backwards and to the right. The right skid made contact with the ground, which resulted in the tail impacting the ground and the helicopter rolling onto its side. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tail rotor.