History of Flight
On 8 March 2008 at approximately 0800Z, a pilot accompanied by three passengers departed Rand Aerodrome (FAGM) in Gauteng Province on a private pleasure flight to Sun City, North West Province. The flight was uneventful. Upon arrival at Sun City, the pilot flew over the heliport, made a turn around high ground, flew over the golf course, and headed directly to the helipad. The initial approach speed was 40 kt with a 400 feet-per-minute rate of descent. During the final stages of the approach, the pilot reduced the indicated airspeed (IAS) to 10 kt. As he applied collective pitch control to cushion the landing, the helicopter settled with power on and then landed hard on the incline to the heliport, causing damage to the skids.
Instead of climbing out to verify the damage, the pilot re-applied power to reposition the helicopter onto the level ground of the helipad. During this attempt, the tail rotor blades made contact with the perimeter fence, resulting in damage to the blades and the tail rotor gearbox.
Injuries
Neither the pilot nor the three passengers sustained any injuries as a result of the accident.
Damage to Aircraft
The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the landing gear skid and lower fuselage on initial impact with the ground. During the repositioning attempt, the tail rotor blades and gearbox were damaged when the rotor contacted the perimeter fence. Additionally, the main rotor blades struck a shrub adjacent to the heliport during the initial impact.
Other Damage
A shrub next to the heliport was struck by the main rotor blades during the initial impact. The perimeter fence was also damaged by the tail rotor blades during the repositioning attempt.
Probable Cause
The probable cause of the accident was a tail strike during a repositioning flight following a hard landing as a result of the helicopter entering a vortex ring state.