- Date
- July 27, 2025, 10:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- North Bend, NE
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N432TVBell 206B
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 14, 2025
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20250727010329A
- Case key
- 200649
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 pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from wires while maneuvering at a low altitude, and the ground crew failure to inform the pilot that the support truck had been moved.
Findings · 4
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
During a telephone interview, the pilot stated that he had been spraying a 300-acre field and had already made about 10 passes with the helicopter. He stated that after each pass he landed near a support vehicle to replenish the hopper. On the final approach to the support vehicle, the pilot did not see the wires and the helicopter struck them with the main rotor blades. The pilot landed the helicopter on an adjacent road without further incident. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the main rotor blades. The pilot discovered that the driver of the support vehicle had moved the truck about 50 ft closer to the wires than it was previously positioned. He stated that the driver of the support vehicle did not inform him that the truck had been moved. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical problems with the helicopter before striking the wires.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N432TV
- Reported as
- Bell 206B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 3286
- Built
- 1981
- Engine
- Rolls Royce 250-C20, 317 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Sky Copters Inc, doing business as Sky Copters Inc
- Registered owner
- Sky Copters Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- 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
- 61
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Right
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.99 inHg
- Observed at
- KFET, 11 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KFET 271535Z AUTO 16009KT 10SM CLR 29/24 A2999 RMK AO2 T02920244=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 14, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 177 KB 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.