# NTSB ERA26LA344: Aerospatiale SA 315, N238HA, Workmore, GA, September 18, 2026

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 3 · Limited · Preliminary report
- Date: September 18, 2026, 16:04 local (20:04 UTC)
- Place: Workmore, GA · 51 Landfill Rd.
- Coordinates: 31.88298, -82.905167
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=31.8830&lon=-82.9052&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Takeoff](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/300) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Defining event: [Takeoff: Ground collision](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/200)
- Highest injury: No injuries
- Injuries: 1 uninjured
- Status: Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class: Class 3
- NTSB office: Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties: Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses pour la sécurité de l’aviation civile, FAA/FSDO, Airbus Helicopter, Safran Helicopter Engines
- NTSB case key (mKey): 203846
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA26LA344
- NTSB preliminary report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/203846/pdf
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA26LA344

## Preliminary report

On September 18, 2026, at 1604 eastern daylight time, an Aerospatiale SA315B helicopter, N238HA was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Workmore, Georgia. The pilot was not injured. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 aerial application flight. According to the pilot, he arrived at a field to conduct an agricultural aerial application. He landed the helicopter on the tanker truck and the helicopter was refilled with 145 gallons of product. The pilot stated that at the time of takeoff, all engine temperatures were normal. The helicopter lifted off the truck and began to make a sound that he described as a piece of plastic or paper on a main rotor blade. The pilot attempted to reach an suitable area for landing but had only attained an altitude of about 40 feet above ground level and was losing lift. The pilot then “pulled the collective to correct lift loss” but the helicopter did not respond as expected. When he realized he was not going to make his landing area, he “pulled all of the cyclic” to slow the descent rate but the helicopter did not respond. The helicopter landed hard 300 feet from the tanker truck. The tail rotor impacted the ground and main rotor blades severed the tail rotor from the tail boom. A small postaccident fire ensued behind the helicopter around the tail boom area. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tail rotor, the tail boom, fuselage and the main rotor blades. The helicopter was recovered and retained for further examination.

## Sequence of events

The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened.

- [Takeoff: Ground collision](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/200) (defining event); cases with it: [Aerospatiale SA315B, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/200/sequence.md?model=8680615), [All aircraft, 618 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/200/sequence.md)

## Aircraft

- Registration: [N238HA](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N238HA), registered now, S/N 2438, built 1976 (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: AEROSPATIALE SA 315
- Registry model: [Aerospatiale SA315B](https://openairdocs.org/model/aerospatiale-sa315b) (registry code 8680615) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: [Turbomeca ARTOUSTEIIIB](https://openairdocs.org/engine/turbomeca-artousteiiib) (registry code 60003, turbo-shaft) (OpenAirDocs)
- Category: Helicopter
- Serial number: 2438
- Year built: 1972
- Airframe hours: 10845.8
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Fire: On-Ground
- Flight: Aerial application, Part 137
- Operator: Wimbric PadgettJr, doing business as Padgett Farms and Forestry LLC
- Registered owner: High Altitude Helicopters, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate: Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection: 100 hour, August 27, 2026, 49 hours before
- Airport: MQW, Telfair-Wheeler
- Equipment: ADS-B

## Weather

- Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day
- Wind: calm
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling: none
- Temperature: 91 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter: 30.11 inHg
- Observed at: EZM, 14 nm away
- METAR: METAR KEZM 181955Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 33/17 A3011 RMK AO2

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.

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