Cactus Fire Rotor Strike 2013

The incident occurred while performing bucket work with a hundred foot longline on an initial attack fire. Towards the end of a fuel cycle the helicopter was landing at an unimproved helispot in order to disconnect the longline prior to getting fuel. The pilot was not comfortable with how close the line was to the skid and lifted the helicopter up about three feet in order to reposition. During this time the tail rotor made contact with a prickly pear cactus. It appeared no damage had occurred, the rotor strike tab was undamaged and there was no post vibration.

A SAFECOM was filed on this incident: https://www.safecom.gov/safecom/13-0178