Freight related event involving an Aerospatiale AS.350B, VH-RTV, Seville, Victoria, on 15 December 1996

The pilot decided to sling his helicopter landing trolley a short distance on his own property. He tied two ropes on each side of the trolley so that it would lift evenly from all four corners. The centre point of each rope was then attached to the cargo hook.

With the helicopter in the hover and the trolley airborne about one foot off the ground, one end of the rope on the left side broke where it was tied on to the trolley. The rope recoiled and wrapped around the left skid. As the left side of the trolley dropped to the ground, the right-side rope caught over the heel of the right skid.

The pilot activated the cargo hook release in an attempt to jettison the load but could not free the rope snagged on the heel of the right skid. He managed to land the helicopter precariously partially on the trolley and partially on the ground. Then, after he shut down the engine, and the rotor RPM was decaying, the helicopter settled back on to its tail. As the tail settled on to the ground, the lower end of the vertical stabiliser was damaged, and the tail rotor was destroyed. The main rotors did not strike the ground, but the rope snagged on the heel of the right skid broke the skid off aft of the rear cross tube.