Event WPR20CA092

Factual narrative

The commercial pilot reported that during an aerial application flight, he sprayed a row on the field and climbed to avoid wires on the south side of the field. He then made a right turn and began his descent back to the field. After he cleared the wires, he entered the field on the spray line and began raising the collective. He noticed that the torque gauge was responding, however, the rate of descent was not being halted and the helicopter subsequently impacted the ground and came to rest on its right side. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that, during an agricultural application flight, he sprayed a row on the field and then climbed the helicopter to avoid wires on the south side of the field. He then turned the helicopter right and began to descend back to the field. After he cleared the wires, he entered the field's spray line and began raising the collective and noticed that the torque gauge was responding; however, he failed to arrest the descent, and the helicopter subsequently impacted terrain and came to rest on its right side. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Descent rate-Not attained/maintained - C