Try telling the owner his helicopter has not had an accident and hand it back as is then !
True, but in the terms of reporting an "accident" to the AAIB, and them investigating it, then the definition is:
“Accident” means an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which, in the case of a manned aircraft, takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and such time as all such persons have disembarked,
As there was no intention of flight, it wasn't an "accident".