What is the first step for recovery from uncommanded yaw?

• A. Immediate large opposite pedal input
• B. Increase collective pitch
• C. Apply cyclic forward
• D. Reduce throttle

Answer: (B)

Uncommanded yaw in hover typically means the tail rotor doesn’t have enough anti-torque margin, often because rotor speed has dropped or engine power isn’t meeting the demands. The first action is to increase collective pitch. Raising collective increases rotor load and, with the governor and engine, helps restore rotor speed and tail-rotor effectiveness. Once rotor speed is back up and anti-torque capability is restored, you can smoothly apply pedal in the opposite direction to counter the yaw and re-trim.

Reducing throttle would reduce engine power and rotor RPM, making the yaw worse. Applying cyclic forward or a large opposite pedal before rotor speed is stabilized can destabilize the aircraft or oversimplify the problem, since the underlying anti-torque margin hasn’t been recovered yet.