Robinson Helicopter R44 N744CJ accident, Kinnelon, NJ, Oct 20, 2026 · NTSB ERA27LA017

Date: October 19, 2026, 20:44 local (Oct 20, 2026, 00:44 UTC)
Place: Kinnelon, NJ
Injuries: 1 minor
Phase of flight: Landing
Aircraft: N744CJRobinson Helicopter R44
Defining event: Landing: Tailstrike
Weather: Visual (VMC) · Night
Status: Investigation ongoing
Investigation class: Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
NTSB office: Eastern Region Aviation
Case key: 204038

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.

Low altitude operation/eventManeuvering-hoverRobinson Helicopter R44: 26 cases All aircraft: 780 cases

Loss of visual referenceLandingRobinson Helicopter R44: 4 cases All aircraft: 242 cases

Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)LandingRobinson Helicopter R44: 56 cases All aircraft: 10,189 cases

TailstrikeLandingRobinson Helicopter R44: 3 cases All aircraft: 124 casesDefining event

Aircraft

Registration: N744CJ
Reported as: Robinson Helicopter R44
Flight: Personal · Part 91
Registered owner: Jersey Aviation LLC

N744CJRegistered now · Robinson Helicopter R44S/N 2032 · Built 2009 Airframe modelRobinson Helicopter R44 Engine modelLycoming O-540-F1B5Reciprocating

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) · Night
Wind: Calm
Lowest ceiling: None
Observed at: 10 nm away