What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
(-23) On landing a foreign object rose up in the rotor wash and struck the rotor blades splitting one on the trailing edge causing a gap of approximately 1 1/2 inches wide by 8 inches long.(-23 amendment) while seeking a place to land in a confined area, pilot decided there were too many low trees and pulled pitch to go back up and find another spot. Supposition is that during the transition a branch that had been held down by the rotor wash snapped up hitting the bottom of one blade approximately 2 inches from trailing edge and putting small creases on bottoms of the other two blades. As pilot flew away he noticed blade vibration/out of track condition and landed to investigate. He found the one blade had split in the back and lost some of the interior foam.
As the FAA filed it
(-23) ON LANDING A FOREIGN OBJECT ROSE UP IN THE ROTOR WASH AND STRUCK THE ROTOR BLADES SPLITTING ONE ON THE TRAILING EDGE CAUSING A GAP OF APPROXIMATELY 1 1/2 INCHES WIDE BY 8 INCHES LONG.(-23 AMENDMENT) WHILE SEEKING A PLACE TO LAND IN A CONFINED AREA, PILOT DECIDED THERE WERE TOO MANY LOW TREES AND PULLED PITCH TO GO BACK UP AND FIND ANOTHER SPOT. SUPPOSITION IS THAT DURING THE TRANSITION A BRANCH THAT HAD BEEN HELD DOWN BY THE ROTOR WASH SNAPPED UP HITTING THE BOTTOM OF ONE BLADE APPROXIMATELY 2 INCHES FROM TRAILING EDGE AND PUTTING SMALL CREASES ON BOTTOMS OF THE OTHER TWO BLADES. AS PILOT FLEW AWAY HE NOTICED BLADE VIBRATION/OUT OF TRACK CONDITION AND LANDED TO INVESTIGATE. HE FOUND THE ONE BLADE HAD SPLIT IN THE BACK AND LOST SOME OF THE INTERIOR FOAM.