Incident Summary
A helicopter pilot reported that before takeoff, he checked the fuel gauge and concluded there was enough fuel to dispense his load. However, after spraying out the load, as he started to return to the landing site, the engine lost power from fuel exhaustion.
Sequence of Events
The helicopter was over trees at the time of the power loss. The pilot had to hold the collective to reach a clearing. Subsequently, the helicopter touched down hard. The hard landing resulted in damage to the skids, tail boom, tail rotor, and tail rotor gearbox.
Damage
The damage to the helicopter included the skids, tail boom, tail rotor, and tail rotor gear box. No other damage was reported.
Probable Cause
The accident occurred due to fuel exhaustion, which led to a loss of engine power.