Robinson R22 Beta crash near Retford Gamston Airport, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

The student pilot was preparing to lift off for a solo flight. Having completed the magneto checks he increased the throttle but, as the governor engaged, the helicopter adopted a nose-high attitude and the tailskid and tail rotor struck the ground, crumpling the former and destroying both tail rotor blades. The helicopter rotated around the rear of the skids in a clockwise direction at least once before the pilot settled it back down onto its skids and shut down. The pilot believes that he had inadvertently held aft cyclic stick and some raised collective input as the governor cut in and increased power, causing the helicopter to pitch up. Robinson R22 Beta, G-EFON 05-16