What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
During take-off from monongehela valley Hospital (5PA5) helipad with two medical crewmembers and a patient onboard, the helicopter rotor wash blew a vinyl cover off of the 33-gallon wheeled foam fire extinguisher. The vinyl cover impacted the aircraft and was shredded by the fenestron blades (tail rotor) severely hindering the pilot's ability to control the helicopter. The pilot immediately landed the helicopter back on the helipad and shut down the engines. An inspection of the helicopter following this incident revealed minor damage to the fenestron blades, fenestron composite housing, the tail rotor long driveshaft and the forward and aft landing gear crosstubes.
As the FAA filed it
DURING TAKE-OFF FROM MONONGEHELA VALLEY HOSPITAL (5PA5) HELIPAD WITH TWO MEDICAL CREWMEMBERS AND A PATIENT ONBOARD, THE HELICOPTER ROTOR WASH BLEW A VINYL COVER OFF OF THE 33-GALLON WHEELED FOAM FIRE EXTINGUISHER. THE VINYL COVER IMPACTED THE AIRCRAFT AND WAS SHREDDED BY THE FENESTRON BLADES (TAIL ROTOR) SEVERELY HINDERING THE PILOT'S ABILITY TO CONTROL THE HELICOPTER. THE PILOT IMMEDIATELY LANDED THE HELICOPTER BACK ON THE HELIPAD AND SHUT DOWN THE ENGINES. AN INSPECTION OF THE HELICOPTER FOLLOWING THIS INCIDENT REVEALED MINOR DAMAGE TO THE FENESTRON BLADES, FENESTRON COMPOSITE HOUSING, THE TAIL ROTOR LONG DRIVESHAFT AND THE FORWARD AND AFT LANDING GEAR CROSSTUBES.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.