# NTSB investigations: Bell 206L-3: Loss of control in flight

NTSB aviation accident and incident investigations since 1962: the probable cause, findings, aircraft, crew, weather and docket of each, linked to the FAA registry and the FAA’s own reports.

## Latest cases

- [NTSB WPR26LA086](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR26LA086.md): Bell 206L-3 · Logsden, OR · Accident · Serious injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report · Jan 15, 2026 · N868H · Substantial damage
  > The inadvertent entanglement of a long line with the skid, which resulted in a loss of flight control. Contributing to the accident was the use of nylon lines instead of steel cables to secure the bucket.
- [NTSB CEN24LA259](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN24LA259.md): Bell 206L-3 · Thorntown, IN · Accident · No injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report · Jul 8, 2024 · N206WX · Substantial damage
  > The pilot’s failure to ensure that the load hose was disconnected from the helicopter before takeoff, which resulted in a loss of control after liftoff and a hard landing.
- [NTSB CEN24FA094](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN24FA094.md): Bell 206 · Hydro, OK · Accident · 3 fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report · Jan 21, 2024 · N295AE · Destroyed
  > The helicopter’s inflight collision with cackling geese, resulting in an inflight breakup.
- [NTSB CEN21LA432](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN21LA432.md): Bell 206L-3 · Berlin, IL · Accident · No injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report · Jul 9, 2021 · N170AM · Substantial damage
  > The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the helicopter with a stuck skid, which resulted in a dynamic rollover.
- [NTSB WPR21LA133](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR21LA133.md): Bell 206 · Lucerne Valley, CA · Accident · Minor injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report · Mar 16, 2021 · N6133C · Substantial damage
  > The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control while maneuvering with a tailwind, resulting in the helicopter spinning and colliding with terrain.
- [NTSB ERA15LA218](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA15LA218.md): Bell 206L-3 · Kearny, NJ · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · May 20, 2015 · N210MH · Substantial damage
  > The deliberate concealment and reuse of an unairworthy tail rotor driveshaft by unknown personnel, which resulted in an overstress separation at a bonded flange adapter as a result of driveshaft imbalance.
- [NTSB WPR13LA303](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR13LA303.md): Bell 206L-3 · Missoula, MT · Accident · Serious injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Jun 28, 2013 · N868H · Substantial damage
  > The pilot's failure to prevent the helicopter from settling with power and to maintain proper position relative to an external load, which resulted in a loss of control and subsequent hard landing.
- [NTSB ERA09CA485](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA09CA485.md): Bell 206L-3 · White Plains, NY · Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report · Aug 26, 2009 · N22ZA · Substantial damage
  > The pilot's failure to disconnect the ground power unit prior to takeoff.

## The whole list in SQL

Runs in DuckDB 1.2 or later on the release's Parquet files over HTTPS:

```sql
SELECT c."ntsbNumber", c."eventDate", c."eventType", c."eventCity", c."eventStateOrRegion", a.n_number, a."aircraftMake", a."aircraftModel", c."highestInjuryLevel", c."totalFatal", c."completionStatus", c.report_url
FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' c LEFT JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' a ON a.case_mkey = c."mKey" AND a.position = 1
WHERE c."mKey" IN (SELECT x.case_mkey FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' x WHERE x.aircraft_model_code IN ('1182108')
    AND EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_events.parquet' s WHERE s.case_mkey = x.case_mkey AND s.aircrafts_position = x.position AND s."tier2Number" = '240' AND s.case_mkey IN (SELECT case_mkey FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_events.parquet' WHERE "isDefiningEvent")))
ORDER BY c."eventDate" DESC, c."ntsbNumber" DESC
```

This list as a web page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/240/sequence?model=1182108

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