Narrative:

The flight; which took place well before sunset; involved 3 persons (pilot and two passengers) with normal lift off; climb and initial cruise. Approximately 4-5 minutes into the flight; cyclic and collective controls were noted to be abruptly more difficult to manipulate with particular difficulty lifting the collective to a power setting of greater than 15 inches or manifold pressure. Hydraulic toggle switch on the pilot's cyclic as well as the hydraulic circuit breaker were noted to be in normal/on position. No abnormal indication were noted on the warning light annunciator panel. A turn was made back towards the airport. All instrument indications (oil temperature/pressure - cylinder temperature - engine and rotor RPM) were in the green with normal readings. Most notable was the continuing extreme difficulty actuating the collective past the above described power position as if it was mechanically restricted. Below that position; it moved freely. Flying southerly now above the beach; it became obvious that the 15 inches of manifold pressure power setting with current load conditions would not maintain altitude and airspeed with sufficient reliability to safely complete a return to the airport over populated areas so the decision was made to make a precautionary landing on a vacant portion of the beach just north of the extended centerline of the departure airport. A call was made to the tower to alert them to our problem; position; status or persons on board and intentions. We then executed a modified running landing on the sand because on low power limitations. The helicopter came to a controlled stop and final check of all engine instruments showed normal function. Shutdown procedure was followed in an expeditious manner. On initial inspection of the cockpit; no obvious abnormal mechanical issues were noted. The aircraft was secured after both passengers were safely escorted away from the aircraft. Recovery operations then successfully followed all appropriate authorities were expeditiously notified.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A R-44 helicopter lost power minutes after takeoff forcing the pilot to land on a nearby beach.

Narrative: The flight; which took place well before sunset; involved 3 persons (pilot and two passengers) with normal lift off; climb and initial cruise. Approximately 4-5 minutes into the flight; cyclic and collective controls were noted to be abruptly more difficult to manipulate with particular difficulty lifting the collective to a power setting of greater than 15 inches or manifold pressure. Hydraulic toggle switch on the pilot's cyclic as well as the hydraulic circuit breaker were noted to be in normal/on position. No abnormal indication were noted on the warning light annunciator panel. A turn was made back towards the airport. All instrument indications (oil temperature/pressure - cylinder temperature - engine and rotor RPM) were in the green with normal readings. Most notable was the continuing extreme difficulty actuating the collective past the above described power position as if it was mechanically restricted. Below that position; it moved freely. Flying southerly now above the beach; it became obvious that the 15 inches of manifold pressure power setting with current load conditions would not maintain altitude and airspeed with sufficient reliability to safely complete a return to the airport over populated areas so the decision was made to make a precautionary landing on a vacant portion of the beach just north of the extended centerline of the departure airport. A call was made to the Tower to alert them to our problem; position; status or persons on board and intentions. We then executed a modified running landing on the sand because on low power limitations. The helicopter came to a controlled stop and final check of all engine instruments showed normal function. Shutdown procedure was followed in an expeditious manner. On initial inspection of the cockpit; no obvious abnormal mechanical issues were noted. The aircraft was secured after both passengers were safely escorted away from the aircraft. Recovery operations then successfully followed all appropriate authorities were expeditiously notified.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.