Incident Overview
A helicopter pilot reported that during an operation on runway 17R, after crossing the threshold at 40 knots and 40 feet above ground level, he perceived a high rate of descent and the helicopter began to sink. Suspecting a settling-with-power situation, the pilot reduced the collective and applied forward cyclic input. Despite these actions, the helicopter continued to descend, impacting the runway hard and sliding approximately 6 feet. The impact resulted in substantial damage to the helicopter.
Performance Calculations
Investigators calculated the density altitude at the time of the incident to be 8,622 feet. The out-of-ground-effect hover ceiling was approximately 5,600 feet, while the in-ground-effect hover ceiling was estimated between 6,200 and 7,600 feet.
Pilot Actions
The pilot recounted that he felt the helicopter enter a high-rate descent shortly after crossing the threshold. He immediately responded by lowering the collective and pushing the cyclic forward, standard procedures for a suspected settling-with-power condition. However, the helicopter continued to sink until it struck the runway.
Damage
The hard landing and subsequent slide caused substantial damage to the helicopter. No other details regarding the extent of damage were provided in the report.