Narrative:

My chief pilot and I were on a ferry flight to the company office in ZZZ2. This was day 2 of the trip as weather hampered our flight the day before. The conditions were clear but the winds were gusty. We landed on our second leg at I35 in ZZZ for fuel. After landing and shutting down; the airport representative discovered a padlock on the jet a fuel controls preventing dispensing of the fuel. After waiting approximately 1 hour for the airport manager to return phone calls; a decision was made; after consulting our company mechanic and reviewing the procedures for 'emergency fuels' in the poh to accept a tank of 100LL and continue the trip. We departed westerly and turned south to begin climbing to cruise altitude when at approximately 4000 ft we received an 'engine chips' light 2 miles from the airport. I immediately reduced power and turned back for the airport. After a successful landing to a hover; my chief pilot instructed me to park the aircraft out of the way on a remote pad just off the ramp. This spot was chosen in the event the aircraft had to be left at the field; it would be out of the way and not disrupt airport operations. The engine was allowed its 2 minute cool down; per the poh; and shut down. With the battery turned off and rotors still spinning down; we both unbuckled; removed our flight helmets; exited the aircraft and walked to the rear of the fuselage to open the engine bay doors. A quick visual inspection of the engine showed no indication for the cautionary warning and we were attempting to secure the doors in the open position when a loud bang was heard and the aircraft shook. I immediately noted that the rotors were still turning; however; 2 of the main rotor blades were bent significantly. I then turned my attention in the direction of the tail where I noticed the tail boom on the left side had sustained damage. The gusting winds had pushed the spinning blades down and into the tail boom causing the damage. The director of maintenance was notified and he later made arrangements to pick the aircraft up and trailer it back to the shop. Additional arrangements were made to have another company employee pick us up in a car; and the aircraft was pushed via ground handling wheels into a hangar where it could be secured.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: One Hughes 500 main rotor blade was damaged by contact with the tail boom after gusty winds pushed the rotor down as it spun down on a parked helicopter. The crew landed to investigate an 'engine chips' light.

Narrative: My Chief Pilot and I were on a ferry flight to the company office in ZZZ2. This was day 2 of the trip as weather hampered our flight the day before. The conditions were clear but the winds were gusty. We landed on our second leg at I35 in ZZZ for fuel. After landing and shutting down; the airport representative discovered a padlock on the Jet A fuel controls preventing dispensing of the fuel. After waiting approximately 1 hour for the Airport Manager to return phone calls; a decision was made; after consulting our company mechanic and reviewing the procedures for 'emergency fuels' in the POH to accept a tank of 100LL and continue the trip. We departed westerly and turned south to begin climbing to cruise altitude when at approximately 4000 FT we received an 'engine chips' light 2 miles from the airport. I immediately reduced power and turned back for the airport. After a successful landing to a hover; my Chief Pilot instructed me to park the aircraft out of the way on a remote pad just off the ramp. This spot was chosen in the event the aircraft had to be left at the field; it would be out of the way and not disrupt airport Operations. The engine was allowed its 2 minute cool down; per the POH; and shut down. With the battery turned off and rotors still spinning down; we both unbuckled; removed our flight helmets; exited the aircraft and walked to the rear of the fuselage to open the engine bay doors. A quick visual inspection of the engine showed no indication for the cautionary warning and we were attempting to secure the doors in the open position when a loud bang was heard and the aircraft shook. I immediately noted that the rotors were still turning; however; 2 of the main rotor blades were bent significantly. I then turned my attention in the direction of the tail where I noticed the tail boom on the left side had sustained damage. The gusting winds had pushed the spinning blades down and into the tail boom causing the damage. The Director of Maintenance was notified and he later made arrangements to pick the aircraft up and trailer it back to the shop. Additional arrangements were made to have another company employee pick us up in a car; and the aircraft was pushed via ground handling wheels into a hangar where it could be secured.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 2009 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.