CHI07LA277

While maneuvering during an aerial application, the helicopter pilot reported hearing a "CA-BANG" sound followed by a loss of pitch control. The pilot was unable to control the helicopter's rate of descent during the emergency landing and hence impacted on sandy terrain and nosed over. An examination of the wreckage showed no anomalies.

On August 24, 2007, about 1305 central daylight time, a Bell 47G-5A helicopter, N25LB, operated by Scotts Helicopter Service, sustained substantial damage when it nosed over on impact with terrain during an emergency landing following a reported loss of pitch control near Anoka, Minnesota. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The 14 CFR Part 137 aerial application flight was not operating on a flight plan. The airline transport pilot reported minor injuries. The local flight departed about 1257 from an area about three miles southeast of the accident site.

The pilot said that when he let down into the site and arrested the descent with collective pitch control, he heard a loud "CA-BANG" behind him, like something had failed. At the same time the collective "bottomed out" and the helicopter began to descend. The pilot said that he tried to lift the collective but it would not move. He said he used the cyclic to "get a little altitude back." The pilot was first going to try and land on the road straight ahead, but a car was heading towards him, so he elected to try a run on landing in a park on the blacktop. Due to the lack of pitch control, the pilot was unable to make his intended landing site. He put the helicopter down on the soft ground next to the blacktop where it nosed over.

An examination of the helicopter's flight controls and other systems revealed no anomalies.