FTW94FA274 · Bell 230
Mayo Medical Center Bell 230 · Accident: loss of control in flight on approach
From Rochester International Airport (RST) to Albert Lea Municipal Airport (AEL)
Event
- NTSB case
- FTW94FA274
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Bell 230
- Aircraft type
- Bell 230
- Category
- Helicopter
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N230EM
- Operator
- Mayo Medical Center
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Rochester International Airport (RST), Rochester, MNTo Albert Lea Municipal Airport (AEL), MN
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Approach
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Loss of control in flight
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Pilot in command › Planned approach, improper
- Pilot in command › Settling with power, encountered
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE PILOT OF A MEDICAL EVACUATION HELICOPTER WAS MANEUVERING THE HELICOPTER TO LAND ON THE AIRPORT RAMP TO PICK UP A PATIENT FROM THE AWAITING AMBULANCE. IN ORDER TO AVOID OVERFLYING TREES, A HANGAR, AND AN UNTIED AIRPLANE, THE PILOT EXECUTED A STEEP APPROACH AT LOW AIRSPEED WHILE SIDE SLIPPING THE HELICOPTER TO MAINTAIN ALIGNMENT ON A TRACK OF 175 DEGREES. WHEN THE PILOT BEGAN TO ADJUST THE COLLECTIVE TO ARREST HIS RATE OF DESCENT, AND SLOW HIS RATE OF CLOSURE, THE RPM DROPPED AND THE AIRCRAFT MADE AN UNUSUAL NOISE ACCOMPANIED WITH AIRFRAME SHUTTERING. THE PILOT REDUCED COLLECTIVE PITCH AND LOWERED THE NOSE IN AN ATTEMPT TO EXECUTE A RUNNING LANDING TO A GRASS AREA ADJACENT TO THE INTENDED LANDING AREA. THE HELICOPTER LANDED HARD AND BOUNCED TWICE. THE LEFT LANDING GEAR CROSSTUBE COLLAPSED WHEN THE HELICOPTER CONTACTED THE SHOULDER OF THE TAXIWAY. A POST-IMPACT FIRE STARTED WITHIN 2 MINUTES, CONSUMING THE TOP OF THE CABIN. THE WINDS AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT WERE FROM 310 DEGREES AT 15 KNOTS, GUSTING TO 20. EXAMINATION OF THE HELICOPTER AND ENGINES DID NOT DISCLOSE ANY MECHANICAL ANOMALIES.
Probable cause
THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO EXECUTE THE PROPER APPROACH AND THE ENSUING SETTLING WITH POWER. FACTORS WERE THE TAILWIND, AND THE CONGESTION AROUND THE AIRPORT.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record FTW94FA274
- Event ID
- 20001206X02034
- Case number
- FTW94FA274
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 618edc2ba0e03cddcd8d063a5d380418be30e6c5695dee637e1fbd67dcb389ef; retrieved 2026-09-23T00:48:01.302Z.