What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
The pilot stated that the winds (15 to 27 KTS) were blowing crosswise to the road out of the southwest. He elected to approach the landing site into the wind and over the top of some tall trees and then let down onto the road. As the helicopter was settling down perpendicular to the road he was not comfortable with the nose down attitude so he lifted it up into a hover. As he was repositioning the helicopter the tail rotor hit a metal post that was on the side of the road. These posts help the snowplows stay on the road while plowing and are couple of feet from the pavement. The pilot recognized a tail rotor failure so he initiated appropriate procedures and landed in a level attitude. He said that it did not seem to him that it hit the road hard enough to spread the gear as it did. There were no injuries to the pilot or the medical crew.
As the FAA filed it
THE PILOT STATED THAT THE WINDS (15 TO 27 KTS) WERE BLOWING CROSSWISE TO THE ROAD OUT OF THE SOUTHWEST. HE ELECTED TO APPROACH THE LANDING SITE INTO THE WIND AND OVER THE TOP OF SOME TALL TREES AND THEN LET DOWN ONTO THE ROAD. AS THE HELICOPTER WAS SETTLING DOWN PERPENDICULAR TO THE ROAD HE WAS NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THE NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE SO HE LIFTED IT UP INTO A HOVER. AS HE WAS REPOSITIONING THE HELICOPTER THE TAIL ROTOR HIT A METAL POST THAT WAS ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. THESE POSTS HELP THE SNOWPLOWS STAY ON THE ROAD WHILE PLOWING AND ARE COUPLE OF FEET FROM THE PAVEMENT. THE PILOT RECOGNIZED A TAIL ROTOR FAILURE SO HE INITIATED APPROPRIATE PROCEDURES AND LANDED IN A LEVEL ATTITUDE. HE SAID THAT IT DID NOT SEEM TO HIM THAT IT HIT THE ROAD HARD ENOUGH TO SPREAD THE GEAR AS IT DID. THERE WERE NO INJURIES TO THE PILOT OR THE MEDICAL CREW.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.