Sikorsky UH60 incident near Ingram, Texas, July 7, 2025
On July 7, 2025 at about 8:57 pm local time, a Sikorsky UH60 (helicopter), registered UNREG, suffered minor damage in an incident during enroute (cruise) near Ingram, Texas. It was a public-use flight under public-use (government) rules. No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this incident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made November 2, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- July 7, 2025 · about 8:57 pm local time · cases in 2025
- Place
- Ingram, Texas · map
- Type
- Incident · mid-air collision
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Sikorsky UH60 · all UH60s on the register
- Registration
- UNREG · registered outside the United States
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Public-use flight · public-use (government) rules
The NTSB's narrative preliminary · quoted from the NTSB record
On July 7, 2025, about 1557 central daylight time, an unregistered Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter collided with an unregistered DJI Mavic 3T unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) near Ingram, Texas. The UH-60 received substantial damage to the tail rotor system and the Mavic 3T was destroyed. The pilot and occupants of the UH-60 were not injured, and the helicopter made a successful landing. The UH-60 was operated by the National Guard and the Mavic 3T was operated by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), as public use aircraft during flood response operations arising from the July 4, 2025, flooding of the Guadalupe River. Postaccident inspection of the helicopter by the operator revealed substantial damage to the tail rotor blades. According to the Texas DPS pilot who was operating the drone. He received instruction on mission plans from the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), that had been set up in response to the flooding in the area. Each drone team consisted of 2 pilots. One pilot would fly the drone, and the other would monitor radio frequencies and visually scan the area. They would receive a mapping mission to fly and once completed they would land the drone and relocate to the next assigned mapping mission. During operations, they would monitor several radio communication frequencies and if other aircraft traffic was heard in their area, they would descend to 50 ft above ground level (agl) and wait until the other aircraft traffic was no longer a factor and then resume their mission. The drone team was starting a mapping mission that was to fly a programmed grid pattern but were hand flying the drone to the start of the grid pattern. They did not see, nor did they hear any other traffic announce operations or positions in the area, and suddenly lost communication with the drone. After losing communication with the drone, they saw the helicopter make an emergency landing. The drone pilot reported that that the deconfliction strategy, that was in place at the time of the collision, was verbally passed down, and that drones were to operate at altitudes at or below 200 ft agl, and that manned aircraft would operate no lower than 400 ft agl unless a specific need required going lower.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
What happened, in order
- Midair collision during enroute (cruise) defining event
The aircraft
- Landing gear: fixed
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 180° at 7 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 12,000 ft
- Temperature: 86°F (30°C), dew point 70°F (21°C)
- Altimeter: 30.06 inHg
- Observation at 3:55 pm from KERV, 10 miles away
Weather report (METAR): METAR KERV 072055Z AUTO 18007KT 10SM SCT120 30/21 A3006 RMK AO2 T02950212=
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The NTSB has not released the docket for this case yet. The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), is usually released when the investigation is nearly complete, and the list here is refreshed when it appears. Check at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under UNREG the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Connections how this case links to the rest of the register
- Sikorsky UH-60 385 registered today · the model family and its accident history
- Sikorsky 827 aircraft on the register
- Accidents and incidents in Texas 6,244 since 1982 · 1,064 in the last ten years
- Texas 29,966 aircraft registered
- Other NTSB records under UNREG 10 records · the number may have belonged to another aircraft at the time
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/accident/CEN25LA242.json.
The bigger picture in Aviation Analytics: accidents over time since 1982, by model, by phase of flight and conditions, by place and on the map.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text does not name anyone involved, its policy at this time. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.