- Date
- July 1, 2025, 08:45 local (13:45 UTC)
- Place
- Edgerton, MO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N16726Bell 206B
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Loss of engine power (partial)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Transportation Safety Board of Canada, Federal Aviation Administration, Kansas City FSDO, Bell Flight, Rolls Royce
- FAA report
- 20250701021329A
- Case key
- 200449
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Preliminary report
What NTSB knew early in the investigation. It may change in the final report.
On July 1, 2025, at 0845 central daylight time, a Bell 206B, N17626, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Edgerton, Missouri. The commercial pilot was uninjured. The helicopter was operated under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations as a Part 137 aerial application flight. The pilot stated that during a departure climb, he heard the engine surge and saw the main rotor speed decrease. He said that he pulled back on the cyclic to slow down and lowered the collective slightly to see if he could regain rotor speed, while the helicopter was about 150-200 feet agl and the airspeed was about 45-50 kts. He then heard the engine shut down. He immediately lowered the collective and turned the aircraft slightly to the south to attempt a landing to a grass pasture. During the landing, the helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tailboom, a tail rotor blade, and the main rotor blades. The helicopter was retained for further examination.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N16726
- Reported as
- Bell 206B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 2122
- Built
- 1976
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Aeroag
- Registered owner
- Aeroag Asset LLC
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.
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.11 inHg
- Observed at
- MCI, 7 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N16726 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.