Air Methods Airbus Helicopters EC 130 T2 accident

On February 22, 2026, at 1510 central standard time, an Airbus EC130 T2 helicopter, N237SH, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Evergreen, Alabama. The commercial pilot and two medical crewmembers were seriously injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 positioning flight. According to the operator, following a patient transport, the pilot flew the helicopter to Pensacola International Airport (PNS), Pensacola, Florida and refueled. Following the refueling, the pilot departed PNS and began the flight back to the helicopter’s home base at Evergreen Medical Center helipad, Evergreen, Alabama. The pilot reported that while on approach to the helipad, the helicopter began an uncommanded yaw to the left. In response to the uncommanded yaw, the pilot lowered the collective, and pitched the nose forward in an attempt to gain airspeed to try to “fly out.” The pilot continued that, despite the attempted remediation, the yaw continued and that, when the helicopter was about 10 to 20 feet above the ground, it impacted an object. Surveillance video captured a portion of the accident sequence. The helicopter entered the frame as it began its approach to the helipad. The helicopter then began to slow, and subsequently began to spin into a leftward yaw. The helicopter descended behind trees, and the impact could be heard. The main wreckage site was located about 0.2 miles from the helipad. The first identified impact point was the roof of a residential home; there were two large dents in the roof’s ridge as well as a large gouge in a panel of the metal roof. The main wreckage came to rest in the home’s southern yard. The main wreckage site contained the helicopter’s fuselage, tail boom, main rotor blades, and portions of the fenestron. The furthest piece of wreckage was a portion of the fenestron rotor support and was located about 300 ft northwest of the main wreckage location. Three of the fenestron’s blades and other portions of the fenestron hub were located between the main wreckage location and the furthest piece of wreckage. The airframe sustained substantial damage during the accident sequence to the fuselage, tail boom, fenestron, main rotor assembly, and both horizontal stabilizers. The fuselage displayed impact damage signatures with most of the damage occurring to the forward and left side. The tail boom was found separated from the fuselage. The fenestron had mostly separated from the tail boom and portions of the composite vertical stabilizer and the fenestron shroud were found throughout the accident site. Most of the fenestron rotor assembly was found about 30 ft from the main wreckage location. It contained most of the fenestron rotor hub, gearbox, 5 complete rotor blades and a portion of a 6th rotor blade. The rest of the 6th rotor blade was found a few feet away. Three of the other rotor blades were found between the fenestron rotor assembly and the furthest piece of wreckage (which was also part of the fenestron rotor assembly). Only a small portion of the 10th rotor blade was found; the rest of the blade was unable to be located at the time of the on scene examination. Several of the fenestron stators had separated and were located within the accident site. The fenestron drive shaft had separated into multiple pieces, all of the fractures were consistent with impact damage. The drive shaft was rotated manually, and the fenestron rotor hub rotated without signs of binding. The anti-torque pedals remained attached to the airframe and were jammed, consistent with the observed impact damage. The anti-torque control cable rod end remained attached to the pedals, the cable was fractured and bent near the separated tail boom. The rod end at the fenestron end had separated from the cable and its attach point on the fenestron rotor hub control attach point. The rod end was not located at the time of the on scene examination. All three main rotor blades were destroyed. There was a large trench in the dirt underneath the Starflex and mast area. Control continuity from the cyclic and collective was observed from the cockpit to the rotor mast hydraulic actuators. All of the hydraulic servos and control link components sustained impact damage. The collective twist-grip was found in the "Flight" gate. Some attenuation damage was observed on the pilot's seat, the middle rear seat, and the far right seat. All four seats were equipped with 4-point restraints; the center seat's lap belt showed fraying in the webbing. The crash-resistant fuel system remained relatively undamaged with approximately 50 gallons of fuel on board. The engine remained attached to the engine deck by its forward and rear mounts. The bellmouth was broken away, leaving the axial compressor visible. The gas generator could be rotated by hand, and there was no visible foreign object damage on the axial compressor blades. The free turbine could be rotated by hand, and continuity was confirmed from the free turbine to the main rotor head. Proper freewheel operation was also confirmed. All fuel, oil, air and electrical connections were found properly connected and saftied. The Module 1 and 5 magnetic plugs were found clean as well as the electric chip detector. The fuel filter delta P was found not activated (no bypass). The module 5 reduction gearbox was removed for input pinion slippage mark examination. The slippage mark was found to have moved by approximately 2mm. The emergency backup control ancillary unit was removed, and the key was in the 12 o’clock position. The wreckage was recovered and retained for further examination.

Verbatim NTSB factual narrative from the NTSB dataset