What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
As aircraft approached the helipad (approximately 25 feet away horizontally) with very low forward airspeed, slightly above the level of the pad the engine flamed out. Pilot let the resulting yaw to the right continue, and entered auto-rotation to ensure the safety of the people on the pad to his left. Pilot realized that he was not going to be able to reach the flatter terrain of the basin approximately 500 feet below and began to try to pull the nose up and pull in collective before contact was made with the terrain. Aircraft impacted terrain with the nose pointing downslope, and pilot states that he could feel the skids sliding downhill briefly before a skid
Caught a rock and rolled the helicopter over. The fuselage came to rest on it?s side on a break of the slope approximately 300 feet below the helipad.
As the FAA filed it
AS AIRCRAFT APPROACHED THE HELIPAD (APPROXIMATELY 25 FEET AWAY HORIZONTALLY) WITH VERY LOW FORWARD AIRSPEED, SLIGHTLY ABOVE THE LEVEL OF THE PAD THE ENGINE FLAMED OUT. PILOT LET THE RESULTING YAW TO THE RIGHT CONTINUE, AND ENTERED AUTO-ROTATION TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THE PEOPLE ON THE PAD TO HIS LEFT. PILOT REALIZED THAT HE WAS NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO REACH THE FLATTER TERRAIN OF THE BASIN APPROXIMATELY 500 FEET BELOW AND BEGAN TO TRY TO PULL THE NOSE UP AND PULL IN COLLECTIVE BEFORE CONTACT WAS MADE WITH THE TERRAIN. AIRCRAFT IMPACTED TERRAIN WITH THE NOSE POINTING DOWNSLOPE, AND PILOT STATES THAT HE COULD FEEL THE SKIDS SLIDING DOWNHILL BRIEFLY BEFORE A SKID
CAUGHT A ROCK AND ROLLED THE HELICOPTER OVER. THE FUSELAGE CAME TO REST ON IT?S SIDE ON A BREAK OF THE SLOPE APPROXIMATELY 300 FEET BELOW THE HELIPAD.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.