The vortex ring state (VRS) is a dangerous aerodynamic condition that may arise in helicopter flight, when a vortex ring system engulfs the rotor causing severe loss of lift. Vortex ring state is sometimes referred to as settling with power, though the latter is also a terminology variously used for low-RPM states caused by rapid increases in collective resulting in over-pitching of the main rotor blades and/or from exceeding engine capability during rapid deceleration and/or descent. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sees these terms as synonymous, whereas Transport Canada sees them as two different phenomena.
This condition also occurs with tiltrotors, and was responsible for an accident involving a V-22 Osprey. Vortex ring state caused the loss of a heavily modified MH-60 helicopter during Operation Neptune Spear, the 2011 raid in which Osama bin Laden was killed.
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