Fire call, positioned late at night, 2330 arrived and recc'ed landing area. Blown landing lamp on last departure, high hover (about 20 ft), drifted back and chainsawed a tree with the tail rotor. TR & TRGB departed BK117, started rotating, dumped lever, hit reasonably hard (emergency lights went on, ELT didn't activate, giving between 2-6G). Rotated total of about 100-120 degrees, including 20-30 degrees on the ground. Spread fwd crosstube, no other airframe damage.
Absolutely no way I could have flown out, gained airspeed, chopped throttles, or any other option. Classic case of the holes lining up in the Swiss cheese, entirely my fault for flying when tired, and poor judgment calls as a result.
Now, ask me what I think of Eurocopter Deutschland customer service, or German efficiency in customer support. <img src="frown.gif" border="0"> 3 months, and ZF won't even give a strip report on the MGB, let alone return the darn thing <img src="mad.gif" border="0"> <img src="mad.gif" border="0">