What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
Pilot stated he was making an approach to the landing dock located adjacent to the lake. As he descended toward the water he misjudged the amount of decrease in ground effect when hovering over water. He began to sink, tried to correct by adding power but thought he overpowered the governor. The sink was not arrested and the helicopter settled into the roughly 4 feet of water, at which point, it tipped to one side and the rotor struck the water causing a sudden stop of the engine damaging the rotor blade. Other damage to the aircraft was caused by the recovery effort which entailed dragging the aircraft out of the lake with a rope.
As the FAA filed it
PILOT STATED HE WAS MAKING AN APPROACH TO THE LANDING DOCK LOCATED ADJACENT TO THE LAKE. AS HE DESCENDED TOWARD THE WATER HE MISJUDGED THE AMOUNT OF DECREASE IN GROUND EFFECT WHEN HOVERING OVER WATER. HE BEGAN TO SINK, TRIED TO CORRECT BY ADDING POWER BUT THOUGHT HE OVERPOWERED THE GOVERNOR. THE SINK WAS NOT ARRESTED AND THE HELICOPTER SETTLED INTO THE ROUGHLY 4 FEET OF WATER, AT WHICH POINT, IT TIPPED TO ONE SIDE AND THE ROTOR STRUCK THE WATER CAUSING A SUDDEN STOP OF THE ENGINE DAMAGING THE ROTOR BLADE. OTHER DAMAGE TO THE AIRCRAFT WAS CAUSED BY THE RECOVERY EFFORT WHICH ENTAILED DRAGGING THE AIRCRAFT OUT OF THE LAKE WITH A ROPE.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.