- Date
- March 13, 2025, 17:45 local (22:45 UTC)
- Place
- Mounds, OK
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N124CWCaldwell C W 162F
- Defining event
- Landing: Dynamic rollover
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20250313004029A
- Case key
- 199860
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The student pilot’s failure to maintain control of the helicopter during a precautionary landing, which resulted in a dynamic roll over and postimpact fire.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The student pilot stated that while flying the experimental helicopter, the tail rotor kept pulling to the left. He attempted to land the helicopter to troubleshoot the issue when the skid got stuck in mud, and the helicopter rolled over. The engine’s hot exhaust caught the grass on fire, which then ignited the helicopter. The pilot and passenger egressed without issue, but the fire continued and destroyed the helicopter. The helicopter’s maintenance logbooks were onboard and were consumed by the fire. Due to the condition of the helicopter after being destroyed by fire, and the pilot not making the wreckage available, a postaccident examination was not possible. The pilot did not submit the National Transportation Safety Board Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report Form 6120.1.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N124CW
- Reported as
- Caldwell C W 162F
- Category
- Helicopter, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 6855
- Built
- 2004
- Engine
- Rotorway R1-162F, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Equipment
- Unknown
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 48
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Last flight review
- February 13, 2025
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.61 inHg
- Observed at
- KRVS, 11 nm away
- METAR
- KRVS 132253Z 18009KT 10SM CLR 28/02 A2961 RMK AO2 SLP033 T02780017
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 5, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.1 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.