- Date
- March 27, 2026, 10:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Arlington, TX
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N4059ARobinson Helicopter R66
- Defining event
- Taxi-to runway: Dragged wing/rotor/float/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 30, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards
- Case key
- 202724
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 terrain during the hover taxi.
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 pilot stated that he had requested flight following from the departure airport control tower. He had lifted off and was conducting a hover taxi along a taxiway as he attempted to enter the assigned transponder code. When he became distracted with the task, the helicopter drifted over the grass area adjacent to the taxiway. The tail of the helicopter inadvertently contacted the grass and the helicopter pitched forward and impacted the ground. The pilot shut down the engine and exited the helicopter with his passenger. The helicopter sustained damage to the tail rotor blades, vertical stabilizer, and landing skids. The pilot noted that entering the transponder code while on the ground before lifting off into the hover would have prevented the distraction and, likely, the accident. According to the pilot, there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter before the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4059A
- Reported as
- Robinson Helicopter R66
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1314
- Built
- 2024
- Airframe hours
- 300
- Engine
- Rolls Royce 250-C300/A1, 300 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 5, 2025 · 75 hours before
- Departed
- GKY · Arlington, TX
- Destination
- MDD · Midland, TX
- Airport
- GKY · Arlington Municipal
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Onboard weather
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
- 69
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 23, 2025
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 4,800 total · 275 in this make and model · 4,700 as pilot in command · 38 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 12 knots, gusting 19
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.08 inHg
- Observed at
- KGKY
- METAR
- METAR KGKY 271453Z 16012G19KT 10SM CLR 22/17 A3008
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 30, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.6 MB in all.