What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
(-23)Helicopter lifted off fishing vessel on a fish spotting flight. Take-off was made down wind resulting in loss of lift. The aircraft contacted the water hard, in a tail low attitude. The aircraft remained upright but suffered damage to the tail boom from contacting the main rotor blades. Fuselage was also damaged as were the tail rotor blades. The pilot is a new zealand citizen without a us pilot certificate, and a statement was not available from him, however, the mechanic stated the mentioned he had a partial power failure on takeoff.
As the FAA filed it
(-23)HELICOPTER LIFTED OFF FISHING VESSEL ON A FISH SPOTTING FLIGHT. TAKE-OFF WAS MADE DOWN WIND RESULTING IN LOSS OF LIFT. THE AIRCRAFT CONTACTED THE WATER HARD, IN A TAIL LOW ATTITUDE. THE AIRCRAFT REMAINED UPRIGHT BUT SUFFERED DAMAGE TO THE TAIL BOOM FROM CONTACTING THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES. FUSELAGE WAS ALSO DAMAGED AS WERE THE TAIL ROTOR BLADES. THE PILOT IS A NEW ZEALAND CITIZEN WITHOUT A US PILOT CERTIFICATE, AND A STATEMENT WAS NOT AVAILABLE FROM HIM, HOWEVER, THE MECHANIC STATED THE MENTIONED HE HAD A PARTIAL POWER FAILURE ON TAKEOFF.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.