20260101001019I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Hughes 369D · Rogersburg, ID · January 1, 2026

Date
January 1, 2026 · 10:15 local
Place
Rogersburg, ID
Phase of flight
Landing: Touchdown
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N861MC
Reported as
Hughes 369D
Reported engine
Rolls-Royce 250-C20B
People aboard
1
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0
Pilot’s certificate
Commercial pilot
Pilot’s flight hours
4,399 total108 in this make and model157 in the last 90 days

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Pilot stated that while conducting helicopter game capturing operation the standard procedure is to toe into a sloping hill to drop off door net gunner to complete capture. The pilot decided to put one skid on the side of sloped hill instead, the main rotor blade tips briefly struck rocks on the hillside. Pilot relocated to level landing zone and shutdown aircraft. Subsequent damage was observed on the tips of all five main rotor blades.

As the FAA filed it

PILOT STATED THAT WHILE CONDUCTING HELICOPTER GAME CAPTURING OPERATION THE STANDARD PROCEDURE IS TO TOE INTO A SLOPING HILL TO DROP OFF DOOR NET GUNNER TO COMPLETE CAPTURE. THE PILOT DECIDED TO PUT ONE SKID ON THE SIDE OF SLOPED HILL INSTEAD, THE MAIN ROTOR BLADE TIPS BRIEFLY STRUCK ROCKS ON THE HILLSIDE. PILOT RELOCATED TO LEVEL LANDING ZONE AND SHUTDOWN AIRCRAFT. SUBSEQUENT DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED ON THE TIPS OF ALL FIVE MAIN ROTOR BLADES.