Serious incident to the Airbus SA342 registered YU-HPZ on 21/08/2025 at Gornji Palackovci (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Preliminary data based on the notification from the authorities of  Bosnia Herzegovina:

When flying over the village of Gornji Palačkovci, the helicopter was at 1500 ft QNH (800 ft AGL), cruising at 120 kt with normal visibility, pilot heard the sound of impact and felt the loss of power. He noticed the decrease in rotor speed, so he immediately lowered the collective fully down and proceeded to land on the terrain in front of him, in the direction of flight. Upon landing, the pilot opened the door and noticed the flame from engine exhaust. He pulled the fuel shut-off cock lever and, when rotor rpm was bellow 170, he pulled the rotor brake lever, exited the helicopter and started extinguishing the fire with the portable fire extinguisher in the cockpit.