LRP, my reading of your linked article and the links within it....clearly show it was NOT the NTSB that were being quoted when it comes to the identifying the cause of the accident.
The internal links reported the Pilot told someone the aircraft had encountered "dead air".
NTSB was notified but elected not to investigate the accident because it did not meet their Criteria that determines whether they investigate or not.
So who do I believe when it comes the "cause" of the accident....the Pilot as quoted in the Ruidoso news article, the Sheriff Sheppard who was quoted in the same article, or the airport manager mentioned in your linked article.....as it surely was not the NTSB that made a determination after investigating.
Your "intuition" might very well be right....certainly will not argue your thoughts re the high DA being a contributing factor as well as a very steep approach.
Then if there was a wind that was changing directions....then we can visualize conditions very much a situation that could be problematic especially if the weight of the aircraft exceeded the weight allowed by the Performance Charts.
Do we know if the Pilot did those calculations prior to commencing the approach?
Do we know what the wind actually was at the time of the accident?
It would appear the aircraft had adequate hover performance and tail rotor authority as the aircraft lifted into a hover after the initial contact with the ground before taking its sled ride down the slope.
But....was that lift off due to exceeding limitations?
We know one thing for sure.....the odds of a proper investigation being reported in the public domain just is not going to happen.
Unless it is the FAA that does an official investigation and then at some point the Report will be made public per FAA Procedures and Policy.
Last edited by SASless; 8th Oct 2018 at 15:02.