What happened
On August 24, 2019, at approximately 16:00 local time, a private Rotorway EXEC 162F helicopter, registered as HB-YKJ, was involved in a fatal accident southeast of Herisau, Switzerland. The aircraft had departed from a location approximately 1.5 km east of Bürglen. While operating under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) for private purposes, the helicopter entered an autorotation and struck a meadow. Following the impact, the aircraft overturned and caught fire. The crash resulted in one fatality among the crew and one serious injury to a passenger. There were no injuries to third parties, though the incident caused minor property damage on the ground.
The investigation
The Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (SUST) initiated an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash. The preliminary report focuses on the sequence of events leading to the impact and the subsequent fire. The investigation examined the flight path from the departure point in Bürglen to the accident site near Herisau and the mechanical state of the aircraft during the failed autorotative maneuver.