- Date
- July 16, 2026, 19:02 local (Jul 17, 2026, 00:02 UTC)
- Place
- Saint Joseph, IL
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N297CABell 206B
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20260716007599A
- Case key
- 203435
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
- N297CA
- Reported as
- Bell 206B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1453
- Built
- 1974
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Helicopter Services Of Illinois LLC
- Registered owner
- Helicopter Services Of Illinois 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
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.03 inHg
- Observed at
- KCMI, 11 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KCMI 162353Z 00000KT 10SM FEW032 BKN070 31/23 A3003 RMK AO2 SLP163 T03110233 10322 20294 55007
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 N297CA · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.