Accident to the Helicopter AS350 registered C-GOFX on 05/11/2016 at Hixon [Investigation led by TSB / Canada]
Diminution de la puissance du moteur lors d'un vol d'épandage agricole, descente en autorotation, atterrissage dur
Responsible entity
Preliminary data based on notification from Canadian authorities:
External load operations with a fertilizer bucket. The pilot had completed the fertilizer drop when a noise was heard from the engine. Shortly thereafter, the rotor RPM began to decrease. The pilot jettisoned the fertilizer bucket and put the aircraft in a nose down attitude in order to maintain airspeed. The pilot entered an autorotation, flared and landed hard on a logging road near the fertilizer loading site. The aircraft remained upright with damage to the landing gear, the aft fuselage area and the tail boom. There were no injuries.