What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
The pilot, stated that he had departed from runway 3 and proceeded to fly over to a grass field adjacent to the end of runway 3. While the pilot was performing multiple aircraft maneuvers of pick ups to a hover and setting the aircraft down to a landing, he encountered some heavy wind gust. The gusts of wind, made it difficult to continue flight and at this point his intent was to conclude his flight and land his helicopter. He then proceeded to hover taxi to runway 3. At the point that the incident occured, the aircraft was lifting from the field and proceeding to the approach end of runway 3. The airport manager witenessed the event, the pilot was fighting gusting winds while the aircraft taxied, westbound over the numbers for runway 3. The pilot then entered the confines of the taxiway leading to runway 3 and the helicopter went into an abrupt left turn, approximately 3-4 feet above the ground causing the helicopter to abruptly drop while simultaneously skidding a few feet before coming to a complete stop. This was also accompanied by a large plume of smoke. The impact from the hard landing damaged the landing gear skids, tail rotor blades, and caused abrasions under the nose of the helicopter. An oil sheen with puddling was noticeable on surrounding areas of engine mounting location. The diffuser casing and the inlet air screen had the most evidence of oil saturation. The pilot stated that he had a loss of power which resulted in his hard landing. T-EA68-FY23-0684
As the FAA filed it
THE PILOT, STATED THAT HE HAD DEPARTED FROM RUNWAY 3 AND PROCEEDED TO FLY OVER TO A GRASS FIELD ADJACENT TO THE END OF RUNWAY 3. WHILE THE PILOT WAS PERFORMING MULTIPLE AIRCRAFT MANEUVERS OF PICK UPS TO A HOVER AND SETTING THE AIRCRAFT DOWN TO A LANDING, HE ENCOUNTERED SOME HEAVY WIND GUST. THE GUSTS OF WIND, MADE IT DIFFICULT TO CONTINUE FLIGHT AND AT THIS POINT HIS INTENT WAS TO CONCLUDE HIS FLIGHT AND LAND HIS HELICOPTER. HE THEN PROCEEDED TO HOVER TAXI TO RUNWAY 3. AT THE POINT THAT THE INCIDENT OCCURED, THE AIRCRAFT WAS LIFTING FROM THE FIELD AND PROCEEDING TO THE APPROACH END OF RUNWAY 3. THE AIRPORT MANAGER WITENESSED THE EVENT, THE PILOT WAS FIGHTING GUSTING WINDS WHILE THE AIRCRAFT TAXIED, WESTBOUND OVER THE NUMBERS FOR RUNWAY 3. THE PILOT THEN ENTERED THE CONFINES OF THE TAXIWAY LEADING TO RUNWAY 3 AND THE HELICOPTER WENT INTO AN ABRUPT LEFT TURN, APPROXIMATELY 3-4 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND CAUSING THE HELICOPTER TO ABRUPTLY DROP WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY SKIDDING A FEW FEET BEFORE COMING TO A COMPLETE STOP. THIS WAS ALSO ACCOMPANIED BY A LARGE PLUME OF SMOKE. THE IMPACT FROM THE HARD LANDING DAMAGED THE LANDING GEAR SKIDS, TAIL ROTOR BLADES, AND CAUSED ABRASIONS UNDER THE NOSE OF THE HELICOPTER. AN OIL SHEEN WITH PUDDLING WAS NOTICEABLE ON SURROUNDING AREAS OF ENGINE MOUNTING LOCATION. THE DIFFUSER CASING AND THE INLET AIR SCREEN HAD THE MOST EVIDENCE OF OIL SATURATION. THE PILOT STATED THAT HE HAD A LOSS OF POWER WHICH RESULTED IN HIS HARD LANDING. T-EA68-FY23-0684