Recent Accidents & Incidents

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The rotorcraft accidents and incidents listed below occurred from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2020.

The accident details shown are preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. All information was obtained through the official websites included below, where you can learn more details about each event.

Australia – Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB)

United StatesNational Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)

October 2020

Enstrom 480

Woodstock, CT, USA
Oct. 10, 2020 | NTSB ERA21LA016
1 injury, 0 fatalities | Personal flight
No description available.

Bell 206

Zephyrhills, FL, USA
Oct. 16, 2020 | NTSB ERA21LA023
0 injuries, 0 fatalities | Personal flight
Helicopter sustained substantial damage during attempted autorotative landing following pilot-reported low-rotor RPM aural alarm.

Robinson R44

Pahrump, NV, USA
Oct. 16, 2020 | NTSB WPR21LA021
2 injuries, 0 fatalities | Business flight
No description available.

Robinson R22

Winder, GA, USA
Oct. 18, 2020 | NTSB ERA21LA024
1 injury, 0 fatalities | Personal flight
Helicopter impacted terrain, sustaining substantial damage, after pilot suspected a loss of power.

Robinson R44 II

Washington, WI, USA
Oct. 18, 2020 | NTSB CEN21LA021
0 injuries, 0 fatalities | Personal flight
No description available.

Bell 206

Point Lookout, NY, USA
Oct. 21, 2020 | NTSB ERA21LA028
1 injury, 0 fatalities | Personal flight
Helicopter settled into shallow water, sustaining substantial damage, after pilot reported entering IMC and a loss of yaw control.

Eurocopter AS350 B3

Silver City, NM, USA
Oct. 26, 2020 | NTSB WPR21LA027
1 injury, 0 fatalities | Positioning flight
No description available.

Hughes 369

Honolulu, HI, USA
Oct. 27, 2020 | NTSB ANC21LA003
0 injuries, 0 fatalities | External-load flight
During external-load operations, pilot reported helicopter lost power made impact with trees during attempted emergency landing.

November 2020

Agusta A109

Los Angeles, CA, USA
Nov. 6, 2020 | NTSB WPR21LA039
1 injury, 0 fatalities | Organ transport flight
During a steep approach to an elevated helipad, helicopter entered an uncontrollable right yaw, made impact with helipad, and rolled onto its left side.

Schweizer 269C

Rhame, ND, USA
Nov. 7, 2020 | NTSB CEN21LA081
0 injuries, 0 fatalities | General aviation flight
No description available.

Bell 206

Raleigh, NC, USA
Nov. 8, 2020 | NTSB ERA21LA040
0 injuries, 0 fatalities | General aviation flight
No description available.

Aérospatiale AS355

Hammonton, NJ, USA
Nov. 14, 2020 | NTSB ERA21LA043
0 injuries, 0 fatalities | Business flight
No description available.

Robinson R44

Austell, GA, USA
Nov. 18, 2020 | NTSB ERA21LA046
0 injuries, 0 fatalities | Instructional flight
No description available.

December 2020

Robinson R44

Marulan South, New South Wales, Australia
Dec. 2, 2020 | ATSB AO-2020-061
0 injuries, 2 fatalities | Training flight
Helicopter made impact with terrain and was destroyed in postcrash fire.

Robinson R44 II

Marietta, TX, USA
Dec. 5, 2020 | NTSB CEN21LA077
0 injuries, 0 fatalities | Personal flight
No description available.

Robinson R44

Colorado City, TX, USA
Dec. 10, 2020 | NTSB CEN21LA084
0 injuries, 2 fatalities | Business flight
Helicopter crashed for unknown reasons, leaving a 400-yard debris field.

Robinson R44

Morris, IL, USA
Dec. 20, 2020 | NTSB CEN21LA095
1 injury, 0 fatalities | Personal flight
No description available.

Robinson R44

Clare, South Australia, Australia
Dec. 22, 2020 | ATSB AO-2020-064
0 injuries, 0 fatalities | Agricultural flight
During attempted landing after aerial application flight, helicopter collided with vehicle and sustained substantial damage.

Hughes 369D

Tuckers Crossing, MS, USA
Dec. 29, 2020 | NTSB CEN21LA102
0 injuries, 1 fatality | External-load flight
While conducting aerial tree trimming with suspended saw, pilot attempted emergency landing, but helicopter made impact with trees and terrain and was consumed by postcrash fire.