Full Report:

On the day of the accident, a possible suspect search was to be carried out with the help of the thermal imaging camera from the air as part of a planned night flight training. There were several SEK officials at the Bundespolizei-Fliegerstaffel, on the apron at Bad Bramstedt (EDHX).

The three-man crew lifted off at 7:12 pm. The two pilots utilized night vision goggles (NVG / BIV) on the helmets. The PIC sat on the left and acted as pilot non-flying and the copilot on the right as pilot flying. The PIC saw the camera display on a monitor in the cockpit, below the flight instruments. He actively communicated with the system operator and the ground station, which could also see the thermal image, about the quality of the thermal image and the visibility of the SEK officials or the beacons. The system operator was sitting in the cabin at the rear left in the direction of flight on the control console with monitor for the thermal imaging camera.

The records of the thermal imaging camera, the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder showed that the helicopter flew to the southwest, then east to the A7 motorway. Visual contact was made with the SEK officials on the ground with the thermal imaging camera. During several loops, the visibility of the flashing beacons was assessed. Since the helicopter could still be heard from the ground and the lights could still be recognized, the crew tried to increase the distance to the ground targets and flew farther west. Due to limitations in the visibility of the thermal imaging camera due to installment locations on the helicopter, trees in the field of view or too much moisture in the air, after several positioning attempts to the west of the target area, the crew decided to move a position to the east side of the area. While repositioning, the aircraft was flown past the flight to the A7. Before arriving at the village of Bimoehlen, the copilot initiated a right turn and reduced the forward speed. At the same time the SEK officials, who now stood on the parapet of the tower, were targeted with the thermal imaging camera. Since the image was very clear and the officials or the flasher lights were still visible, the crew wanted to increase the distance to the target. For this purpose, the copilot maneuvered an oblique position of up to 10 ° to the left in a hovering flight with a backwards travel of about 400ft, and a heading of approx. 205 °. Using a groundspeed of approx. 30 kt, the helicopter increased the distance to the target area. This resulted in a slow rotation of the helicopter about the vertical axis to the right. When the helicopter direction was about 90 ° to the flight path, the copilot said "oh, ups" and the helicopter accelerated the rotation around the high axis to the right (clockwise). Thereupon, the responsible pilot called the driver several seconds later "Ride, Ride, Ride ...". Within about 12 seconds the helicopter spun about four and a half turns around the high axis and then hit a field south-west Bimöhlen with a high sink rate at about 20:00 clock.

During the impact, the pilot and the system operator were killed and the copilot was seriously injured. The helicopter was destroyed.