Robinson R22 crash near Charlotte, TX, United States

On January 24, 2020, at 1750 central standard time, a Robinson R22 helicopter, N8364Y, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Charlotte, Texas. The commercial pilot sustained serious injuries. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot stated that, after he had finished herding animals into a pen at the family farm, he took off and saw several feral hogs in an adjacent pasture. He turned the helicopter back to land so that he could pick up a helper to eradicate the hogs from the pasture. The pilot stated that the sun was in his eyes and dust had kicked up from the helicopter's rotor wash. The pilot made a pedal turn, and the tail rotor impacted a powerline next to a road. The helicopter began to spin, the pilot pulled back on the cyclic and lowered the collective, and the helicopter subsequently impacted the ground. No preaccident mechanical anomalies were reported with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.