Eurocopter AS 350B3 Ecureuil crash near Naut Aran, Lleida, Catalonia, Spain

The Ecureuil was on a training flight with two crew aboard, performing a governor failure simulation, when a hard landing broke one of the skids and significantly damaged the helicopter. Both crew were unhurt and left the aircraft unaided. The investigation found the probable cause was inadequate execution of the governor failure simulation procedure, leading to loss of control and ground impact. Contributing factors were inadequate supervision by the instructor that prevented recovery from the emergency; a loss of situational awareness by the pilot under instruction in the final phase, causing him to revert improperly to the governor's automatic mode, probably through overconfidence and poor monitoring of flight parameters; the crew's confusion about the training procedure itself; and the failure to select a training area meeting appropriate safety conditions for the manoeuvre. Final report A-049/2021.