A crash at Manston earlier this year which wrecked a helicopter was caused by the pilot becoming “frozen” at the controls.

The pilot, who was qualified to fly helicopters, was undergoing a proficiency test in a Robinson Beta R22 helicopter owned by Manston-based Polar Helicopters Ltd at the time of the crash on the morning of July 25 this year.

Now an official air crash report has revealed he became “frozen” after the instructor who was with him carried out an emergency landing simulation.

The newly-published Air Accident Investigation Branch report said: “During a proficiency check of a qualified pilot, the instructor closed the throttle at the start of an autorotation and opened it at about 50ft to prepare the aircraft for the power recovery.

“However, the qualified pilot did not attempt to flare the helicopter, even when verbally prompted by the instructor.

"To assist the pilot, the instructor attempted to flare, but found that the pilot had “frozen” on the controls to the extent that the instructor was unable to override the pilot.

“Consequently, the helicopter hit the ground with a nose-down attitude before coming to a rest on its left side.

"Both pilots, who were wearing lap and diagonal harnesses, suffered minor injuries but were able to exit the helicopter via the right-hand door.”

The report says that the 1991-built helicopter – reg G CDMG – suffered a “total hull loss” in the crash.