The pilot and passenger departed on a fish survey flight over the open ocean. About an hour into the flight, a descent was made to sea level to attach a GPS buoy on a log. After attaching the buoy, the helicopter was climbing through 400-500 ft, when the pilot heard a bang come from the area of the rotor head, followed by a shake in the cyclic control. The pilot radioed the support vessel notifying them of the issue and proceeded to head in their direction. The pilot continued to experience intermittent flight control problems, and unable to reach the vessel, attempted to deploy the inflatable floats, however they did not deploy. The pilot subsequently declared a mayday and initiated a forced water landing. After the helicopter impacted the water, it rolled inverted. The pilot and passenger egressed before the helicopter sank.

The helicopter was not recovered.