# NTSB ERA26LA194: Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 206L-4, N409AE, Chapmansboro, TN, April 30, 2026 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report - Date: April 30, 2026, 02:06 local (07:06 UTC) - Place: Chapmansboro, TN · LZ - school parking lot - Coordinates: 36.340755, -87.16658 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=36.3408&lon=-87.1666&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Standing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/150) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Standing-engine(s) operating: Ground handling event](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/080) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 4 uninjured - Status: Completed, report July 30, 2026 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Investigation class: Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish - NTSB office: Eastern Region Aviation - Parties: FAA/FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 202916 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA26LA194 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/202916/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA26LA194 ## Probable cause Failure of the volunteer fire department personnel to properly monitor and secure a stretcher, which resulted in it rolling into the helicopter’s tail rotor. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Attention/monitoring: monitoring equip/instruments](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02021525): Personnel issues › Psychological · Emergency services personnel (probable cause); cases with it: [Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 206L-4, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02021525/cases.md?model=1181455), [All aircraft, 142 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02021525/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Standing-engine(s) operating: Ground handling event](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/080) (defining event); cases with it: [Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 206L-4, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/080/sequence.md?model=1181455), [All aircraft, 108 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/080/sequence.md) ## Analysis The air medical helicopter had responded to a call for service, and after landing was sitting idle with the engine running and its rotors turning while the flight medical crew and two local volunteer fire department personnel transferred a patient from a stretcher into the helicopter. Once the patient was loaded, a flight medical crew member told the fire department volunteers they could leave the rotor disk area while they finished securing the patient inside the helicopter. A flight medical crew member then observed one of the volunteers move the stretcher back and away from the helicopter; however, the two volunteers did not leave the rotor disc area. A few moments later, a flight medical crew member watched the unattended and unsecured stretcher roll downhill toward the helicopter’s spinning tail rotor. The stretcher collided with the tail boom and the tail rotor resulting in substantial damage to both tail rotor blades and minor damage to the tail boom. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N409AE](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N409AE), registered now, S/N 52413, built 2010 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON CANADA 206L-4 - Registry model: [Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 206L-4](https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-helicopter-textron-canada-206l-4) (registry code 1181455) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Rolls-Royce 250-C30P](https://openairdocs.org/engine/rolls-royce-250-c30p) (registry code 54013, turbo-shaft) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Helicopter - Serial number: 52413 - Year built: 2010 - Airframe hours: 8971 - Engines: ROLLS-ROYC 250-C30P 650 horsepower turbo shaft - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Other work use, Part 135 - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: AAIP, April 15, 2026 - Flight plan: Company VFR - Equipment: Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, Satellite tracking device, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Data recorder ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 49; injuries: none; flight instructor, airline transport, commercial; airplane ratings: single-engine land, multi-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane, helicopter; medical: class 2, without waivers/limitations; last flight review November 1, 2025; seat: right; restraint: 4-point; flight hours: 4,821 total, 691 in this make and model, 2,691 as pilot in command, 50 in the last 90 days, 20 in the last 30 days, 1 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Night - Wind: 360° at 5 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Temperature: 54 °F, dew point 46 °F - Altimeter: 29.95 inHg - Observed at: KJWN, 17 nm away - METAR: METAR KJWN 300655Z AUTO 36005KT 10SM FEW039 FEW046 12/08 A2995 RMK AO2 ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20260430005769A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20260430005769A), Apr 30, 2026: Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 206L-4, Chapmansboro, TN, Substantial damage. After responding to an emergency event, patient was loaded into aircraft with aircrew personnel. EMS personnel lost control of medical eqiupment (stretcher)… From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.