What happened
The aircraft was involved in a collision with overhead wires following a radio transmission by the pilot indicating an intention to perform a low pass over the location of an outdoor event he had recently attended. Several witnesses observed the helicopter operating at an extremely low altitude during this maneuver.
During the approach, it appeared that one of the landing skid struts made contact with a wire. The impact caused the aircraft to flip upside down and separate into multiple parts as it descended toward the ground.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the sequence of events leading to the collision. Evidence indicated that the primary point of initial contact was the landing skid strut, which struck the wire during the low-altitude pass.