- Date
- March 15, 2025, 11:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Waterford, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N402TAEnstrom 280FX
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Low altitude operation/event
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20250315005509A
- Case key
- 199873
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 water while operating at a low altitude.
Findings · 5
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
A witness video showed the helicopter flying very low over a lake before it impacted the water. During postaccident interviews with news outlets, the pilot stated he and a passenger were flying the helicopter low over clear water, when his “depth perception got a little off”, and he drove the helicopter into the water. The helicopter fuselage, tail boom, and main rotor blades were substantially damaged. The pilot did not complete a NTSB Form 6120.1 Accident/Incident Report.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N402TA
- Reported as
- Enstrom 280FX
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 2122
- Built
- 2006
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Airport
- MOD
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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
- 71
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Unknown
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,200 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.17 inHg
- Observed at
- KMOD, 14 nm away
- METAR
- KMOD 151753Z VRB04KT 10SM OVC042 12/07 A3017 RMK AO2 SLP217 T01220067 10122 20044 53013
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 3, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.2 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.