What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
Hover taxiing north bound in between taxiway h and the access road at mccarran international airport, Las Vegas. Monitoring taxi speed and height to stay within company mandated limit of 2-3 foot hoover and no more than 15 knots ground speed. A couple of big airplanes on the ramp blocking my view of the ramps exit to the taxiway. Saw the nose of a big airplane taxiing from behind the parked airplanes. I applied immediate aft cyclic to stop my forward movement to not cut off the taxiing airplane. Pulled aft on the cyclic, hover of 2-5 feet was too low for tail clearance, attempted to pull up on the collective to clear the tail. Was unsuccessful and the tail struck the ground.
As the FAA filed it
HOVER TAXIING NORTH BOUND IN BETWEEN TAXIWAY H AND THE ACCESS ROAD AT MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, LAS VEGAS. MONITORING TAXI SPEED AND HEIGHT TO STAY WITHIN COMPANY MANDATED LIMIT OF 2-3 FOOT HOOVER AND NO MORE THAN 15 KNOTS GROUND SPEED. A COUPLE OF BIG AIRPLANES ON THE RAMP BLOCKING MY VIEW OF THE RAMPS EXIT TO THE TAXIWAY. SAW THE NOSE OF A BIG AIRPLANE TAXIING FROM BEHIND THE PARKED AIRPLANES. I APPLIED IMMEDIATE AFT CYCLIC TO STOP MY FORWARD MOVEMENT TO NOT CUT OFF THE TAXIING AIRPLANE. PULLED AFT ON THE CYCLIC, HOVER OF 2-5 FEET WAS TOO LOW FOR TAIL CLEARANCE, ATTEMPTED TO PULL UP ON THE COLLECTIVE TO CLEAR THE TAIL. WAS UNSUCCESSFUL AND THE TAIL STRUCK THE GROUND.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.