What happened
The incident occurred when the aircraft was departing from a private residence after dropping off two passengers. The pilot reported experiencing cyclic feedback as he attempted to lift the helicopter into a hover. This feedback quickly became uncontrollable, causing the aircraft to roll over.
The takeoff was attempted from wet, sloping terrain during nighttime conditions. Notably, the operation was conducted without the use of a landing light, which likely reduced visibility of the immediate surroundings.
The investigation
Investigation details were not provided in the source material.
Findings
Contributing factors included the wet sloping terrain and the lack of external lighting during the night operation. The pilot's loss of control was attributed to uncontrollable cyclic feedback during the initial hover phase.