Pilot Debrief

AMERICAN EUROCOPTER LLC AS350B3 near Las Cruces, NM — 2025-08-09

Investigation ongoingWPR25LA249
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Date
2025-08-09
Location
Las Cruces, NM, USA
Airport
NM77
Aircraft
AMERICAN EUROCOPTER LLC AS350B3
Registration
N279AM
Category
Helicopter
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0

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 8, 2025, about 1946 mountain daylight time, an Airbus AS350 B3, N279AM, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Las Cruces, New Mexico. The pilot, two crew members and a passenger were not injured. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 air medical flight. The pilot reported that the flight departed Gila Regional Heliport (NM85) Silver City, New Mexico with a patient, to conduct an air ambulance operation to Memorial Medical Center Heliport (NM77) Las Cruces, New Mexico. The pilot approached the NM77 helipad to a hover. He then performed a pedal turn to the left and the tail rotor contacted a parking sign that was located near the landing zone. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operations.

Preliminary NTSB coding

  • Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) · Landing
View NTSB preliminary report

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