What happened
On February 26, 2017, a Eurocopter EC130, registration N864MH, was performing a hover taxi for departure in the ramp area of an airport in Las Vegas, Nevada. During the maneuver, the pilot was monitoring a recently departed helicopter before looking inside the cockpit to change a radio frequency. Upon looking back outside, the pilot observed the nose of a large aircraft taxiing from behind another parked airplane to the left. In response, the pilot applied abrupt aft cyclic to halt the helicopter's forward movement, which caused the Fenestron to strike the ramp.
There were no injuries resulting from the event. The pilot was able to return the aircraft to the ramp area without further incident.
The investigation
The investigation determined that the Fenestron sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures present in the helicopter prior to the accident that would have prevented normal operation.