A helicopter instructor and his student escaped with minor injuries after their aircraft spun out of control and crashed onto the tarmac during a training flight in Utah.
CCTV footage released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) shows the Bell 206 helicopter suddenly losing control at Cedar City Regional Airport.
The aircraft can be seen spinning violently before dropping almost vertically towards the ground, with its tail striking the taxiway as it continues to spiral.
The helicopter crashed just metres from another parked aircraft, prompting two people from the neighbouring helicopter to rush towards the crash site.
Despite the dramatic impact, both the instructor and student managed to escape the wreckage with only minor injuries.
The NTSB said the crash, which occurred on May 23, was caused by the 32-year-old flight instructor losing control of the helicopter rather than a mechanical failure.
Footage shows the helicopter bouncing several times across the tarmac before coming to a stop, with dust and smoke rising from the wreckage.
Instructional helicopter accidents in the US are relatively uncommon, with incidents recorded at an average rate of 4.7 per 100,000 flight hours.
A long-term safety analysis using NTSB data recorded 299 such incidents over a 12-year period.
The Utah crash comes amid renewed attention on helicopter safety following several other incidents.
Last week, five people were killed after a helicopter crashed and burst into flames at an airport on the Malaysian island of Borneo.
In August, two British newlyweds and their Greek pilot also died in a helicopter crash on the Greek island of Sifnos.
