What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
Helicopter on cross country flight encountered a sudden loss of altitude while at cruising altitude of 750' and an airspeed of 69 KTS. Aircraft's tailboom was struck by main rotor blades approximatelty two feet from the tailrotor attach point and seperated from the aircraft. The tailsection was found 340 feet behind the flightpath of the impact point of the fuslage. Post crash fire destroyed entire fuselage. Evidence of severe coning of main rotorblades with both pitch change arms and control rod ends torn away from both main rotor blade grips in the vicinity of the tailrotor section.
As the FAA filed it
HELICOPTER ON CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT ENCOUNTERED A SUDDEN LOSS OF ALTITUDE WHILE AT CRUISING ALTITUDE OF 750' AND AN AIRSPEED OF 69 KTS. AIRCRAFT'S TAILBOOM WAS STRUCK BY MAIN ROTOR BLADES APPROXIMATELTY TWO FEET FROM THE TAILROTOR ATTACH POINT AND SEPERATED FROM THE AIRCRAFT. THE TAILSECTION WAS FOUND 340 FEET BEHIND THE FLIGHTPATH OF THE IMPACT POINT OF THE FUSLAGE. POST CRASH FIRE DESTROYED ENTIRE FUSELAGE. EVIDENCE OF SEVERE CONING OF MAIN ROTORBLADES WITH BOTH PITCH CHANGE ARMS AND CONTROL ROD ENDS TORN AWAY FROM BOTH MAIN ROTOR BLADE GRIPS IN THE VICINITY OF THE TAILROTOR SECTION.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.