What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
The pilot was attempting to land on a moveable platform for the first time. The pilot stated and video showed he aborted his first attempt after he failed to properly position the aircraft on the platform and repositioned for another attempt. During the second attempt the pilot landed short on the platform resulting in the aircraft CG being aft of the platform edge. As the pilot lowered the collective towards full down the aircraft rocked aft and the pilot initiated a corrective action. He raised the collective and applied forward cyclic to attempt to take off. The result of these flight control inputs placed the aircraft in a very nose low/tail high condition and the pilot rapidly placed aft cyclic to counter the aircraft attitude. This aft cyclic application resulted in the tail stinger and tail rotor blades contacting the ground as well as the subsequent loss of aircraft control. The main rotor blades contacted the ground as the aircraft began to roll over and eventually coming to rest on the side of the fuselage.
As the FAA filed it
THE PILOT WAS ATTEMPTING TO LAND ON A MOVEABLE PLATFORM FOR THE FIRST TIME. THE PILOT STATED AND VIDEO SHOWED HE ABORTED HIS FIRST ATTEMPT AFTER HE FAILED TO PROPERLY POSITION THE AIRCRAFT ON THE PLATFORM AND REPOSITIONED FOR ANOTHER ATTEMPT. DURING THE SECOND ATTEMPT THE PILOT LANDED SHORT ON THE PLATFORM RESULTING IN THE AIRCRAFT CG BEING AFT OF THE PLATFORM EDGE. AS THE PILOT LOWERED THE COLLECTIVE TOWARDS FULL DOWN THE AIRCRAFT ROCKED AFT AND THE PILOT INITIATED A CORRECTIVE ACTION. HE RAISED THE COLLECTIVE AND APPLIED FORWARD CYCLIC TO ATTEMPT TO TAKE OFF. THE RESULT OF THESE FLIGHT CONTROL INPUTS PLACED THE AIRCRAFT IN A VERY NOSE LOW/TAIL HIGH CONDITION AND THE PILOT RAPIDLY PLACED AFT CYCLIC TO COUNTER THE AIRCRAFT ATTITUDE. THIS AFT CYCLIC APPLICATION RESULTED IN THE TAIL STINGER AND TAIL ROTOR BLADES CONTACTING THE GROUND AS WELL AS THE SUBSEQUENT LOSS OF AIRCRAFT CONTROL. THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES CONTACTED THE GROUND AS THE AIRCRAFT BEGAN TO ROLL OVER AND EVENTUALLY COMING TO REST ON THE SIDE OF THE FUSELAGE.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.