ROBINSON HELICOPTER COMPANY R44 II near Cape Girardeau, MO — 2025-08-16

Probable cause

NTSB has not published a probable cause for this accident yet. Preliminary reports describe what happened; the cause is determined later, often 12–24 months after the event.

NTSB narrative

On August 16, 2025, at 1150 central daylight time, a Robinson R44 II helicopter, N24DF was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The pilot and three passengers were not injured. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 air tour flight. The pilot reported that during an enroute descent towards his destination airport, he felt and heard a loud vibration and immediately started to lose tail rotor authority. During the vibration, he observed the alternator warning annunciator light illuminate but did not observe any reduction of rotor or engine RPM. The pilot decided to perform an autorotation to a nearby field. During the autorotation, the helicopter landed hard which resulted in the main rotor contacting the tail boom. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the main rotor, tail boom, tail rotor drive system, and tail rotor. The helicopter was retained for further examination.

Preliminary NTSB coding

• Sys/Comp malf/fail (non-power) · Enroute-descent

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