Incident Overview
The pilot of a helicopter reported that as soon as he lifted the aircraft off the platform, he felt that something was not normal. He stated he was two feet off the deck and turning to the left at the same time. The surviving passenger described a sensation as if the rear end of the aircraft either got pushed or pulled down. The passenger added that the nose pitched up violently, and then the helicopter bounced from side to side on the platform.
Pilot Actions and Descent
The pilot realized he did not have enough room to land and pulled up on the collective in an attempt to get away from the platform. The helicopter then rolled inverted and descended into the water on the north side of the platform.
Post-Accident Examination
Examination of the platform revealed that a hatch door located on the west end had a handle that was bent and deformed. On the bottom side of the deformed handle, there was a rolled gouge of metal, and under the gouge, a paint chip was found. The helicopter's left spring-steel extension had the paint scraped off the upper outboard corner along the length of the extension. Paint analysis and geometric evaluation of the handle and the extension determined that the paint chip on the handle and the paint on the spring-steel extension were similar, and the deformation on the handle coincided with the placement of the extension under the handle.