- Date
- December 13, 2025, 13:45 local (19:45 UTC)
- Place
- Divot, TX
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Unknown
- Aircraft
- N865SBell Textron Canada 505
- Defining event
- Unknown: Unknown or undetermined
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety, Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Safety Board of Canada
- FAA report
- 20251213021439A
- Case key
- 202167
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 December 13, 2025, about 1345 central standard time, a Bell Helicopter 505, N865S, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Divot, Texas. The pilot was seriously injured and the passenger sustained minor injuries. The helicopter was operated as a Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to the pilot, shortly after takeoff, a loud “bang” was heard in an area above his head. He experienced a partial loss of control as the cyclic began to shake, and the helicopter began to pitch uncommanded. During the loss of control, the helicopter was over a pond, so he maneuvered back over land for a forced landing. During the forced landing and contact with terrain, the helicopter rolled onto its left side sustained substantial damage to the main rotor system. 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
- N865S
- Reported as
- Bell Textron Canada 505
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 65428
- Built
- 2022
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- B&H Equipment Rental LLC
- Registered owner
- B&H Equipment Rental LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Airport
- PVT
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
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,700 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KUVA, 36 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KUVA 131955Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM OVC017 22/20 A3000 RMK AO2 T02180195
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.