What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
After a brief flight, the helicopter came back to the runway and entered a hover to land. The winds were gusty and while attempting a right peddle turn to taxi down the runway, a gust of wind caught the tail rotor causing the helicopter to enter a loss of tail rotor effectiveness (lte). Once in lte, the helicopter control was lost, causing the tail rotor blades to contact the ground shearing off both blades, resulting in a spin to the left several times and impacted the runway in an upright condition. The impact caused substantial damage to the helicopter, broken nose to passenger and fractured back for the pilot. Both personnel exited the helicopter through the broken-out windscreen on the pilot side of the helicopter.
As the FAA filed it
AFTER A BRIEF FLIGHT, THE HELICOPTER CAME BACK TO THE RUNWAY AND ENTERED A HOVER TO LAND. THE WINDS WERE GUSTY AND WHILE ATTEMPTING A RIGHT PEDDLE TURN TO TAXI DOWN THE RUNWAY, A GUST OF WIND CAUGHT THE TAIL ROTOR CAUSING THE HELICOPTER TO ENTER A LOSS OF TAIL ROTOR EFFECTIVENESS (LTE). ONCE IN LTE, THE HELICOPTER CONTROL WAS LOST, CAUSING THE TAIL ROTOR BLADES TO CONTACT THE GROUND SHEARING OFF BOTH BLADES, RESULTING IN A SPIN TO THE LEFT SEVERAL TIMES AND IMPACTED THE RUNWAY IN AN UPRIGHT CONDITION. THE IMPACT CAUSED SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE TO THE HELICOPTER, BROKEN NOSE TO PASSENGER AND FRACTURED BACK FOR THE PILOT. BOTH PERSONNEL EXITED THE HELICOPTER THROUGH THE BROKEN-OUT WINDSCREEN ON THE PILOT SIDE OF THE HELICOPTER.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.