Robinson R22 crash near 7km NE of Billund, Southern Denmark, Denmark

The instructional flight left Billund for a training area northeast of the control zone to practise autorotations. The first, from around 1,300 feet, went normally. Climbing away at 60 knots and roughly 500 feet, the instructor closed the throttle to idle so the student could practise an engine failure during the climb, the autorotation being flown into wind. Judging the vertical sink rate too high at about 200 feet, the instructor took control and flew the remainder including the flare. The sink was almost arrested when the left skid touched lightly, then the right, then the left struck hard and sank around 10cm into the ground. With forward speed still on, the helicopter pitched over, the rotor blades struck the ground, and it rolled twice before coming to rest on its left side. The investigation concluded that a late or insufficient flare combined with forward speed caused the skid to dig in. Both occupants survived.