On July 4, 2019, about 2000 central daylight time, an MD 369-500E helicopter, N5277F, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident at Houston Hobby Airport (HOU), Houston, Texas. The commercial pilot was not injured, and his flight officer sustained minor injuries. The flight was being conducted as a public operations flight.

After 1.5 hours of an uneventful flight, the pilot was positioning the helicopter to land on a helipad at its home base (HOU). The pilot reported that after checking the wind conditions, he made a normal approach to the helipad. About 5 to 10 ft above the ground, just before coming to a hover, the helicopter had a sudden uncontrollable yaw and bank to the right. The pilot felt the left skid impact the ground, and the helicopter rolled on its right side. Both the pilot and passenger exited the helicopter after it came to rest. The pilot reported that before the uncontrolled yaw and bank to the right, there was no sudden gust of wind, and he stated that he did not have input on the controls that would have caused the yaw and bank to the right.

Detailed examination of the helicopter’s flight control systems did not reveal any mechanical anomalies.