What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
(-23) Pilot was transporting a l.a. dept. Of water & power survey crew north west of the Inyo-Kern airport area. Pilot dropped off survey crew and was in the process of repositioning the aircraft to the next drop-off site. Pilot decided the landing site was too uneven. Pilot repositioned a few yards away believing it would be level enough to land the aircraft. During the landing, the tailrotor made contact with a rock outcropping. Pilot performed a successful hovering autorotation. The tail rotor blades sustained substantial (major) damage upon contacting the rock upcropping. Main rotor blades were damaged and the fuselage sustained damage by tail rotor debris.
As the FAA filed it
(-23) PILOT WAS TRANSPORTING A L.A. DEPT. OF WATER & POWER SURVEY CREW NORTH WEST OF THE INYO-KERN AIRPORT AREA. PILOT DROPPED OFF SURVEY CREW AND WAS IN THE PROCESS OF REPOSITIONING THE AIRCRAFT TO THE NEXT DROP-OFF SITE. PILOT DECIDED THE LANDING SITE WAS TOO UNEVEN. PILOT REPOSITIONED A FEW YARDS AWAY BELIEVING IT WOULD BE LEVEL ENOUGH TO LAND THE AIRCRAFT. DURING THE LANDING, THE TAILROTOR MADE CONTACT WITH A ROCK OUTCROPPING. PILOT PERFORMED A SUCCESSFUL HOVERING AUTOROTATION. THE TAIL ROTOR BLADES SUSTAINED SUBSTANTIAL (MAJOR) DAMAGE UPON CONTACTING THE ROCK UPCROPPING. MAIN ROTOR BLADES WERE DAMAGED AND THE FUSELAGE SUSTAINED DAMAGE BY TAIL ROTOR DEBRIS.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.