Schweizer 269C accident near Madisonville, Kentucky, July 2, 2025
On July 2, 2025 at about 11:25 pm local time, a 2009 Schweizer 269C (helicopter), registered N21385, was substantially damaged in an accident during landing near Madisonville, Kentucky (Madisonville Regional Airport). It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person had minor injuries. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot’s failure to take the appropriate corrective action for ground resonance, which resulted in a loss of helicopter control.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made November 2, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- July 2, 2025 · about 11:25 pm local time · cases in 2025
- Place
- Madisonville, Kentucky · Madisonville Regional Airport · cases near this airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person had minor injuries.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Schweizer 269C 1, built 2009 · all 269Cs on the register
- Registration
- N21385 · registry record · serial 0356
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The student pilot reported that he hover taxied the helicopter to land on the ramp and executed a 180° pedal turn to face the center of the ramp. When the helicopter landed, he reduced the throttle to idle, and the helicopter began to shake. A flight instructor who was watching the landing from across the ramp communicated over the radio and via hand signals, telling the pilot to pick the helicopter up to a hover. The student pilot attempted to increase the throttle and increase collective to pick the helicopter back up to a hover, but the helicopter began to shake violently, and the student pilot reduced the collective but was unable to regain control. A review of a surveillance video provided by the operator revealed that the helicopter began to rock on its skids, rotated about 180°, and rolled over on its left side, which resulted in substantial damage to the main rotor blades, tail rotor blades, tail boom, and fuselage. The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
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
- Ground resonance during landing defining event
The NTSB's findings
- Personnel issues › Task performance › Use of equip/info › Aircraft control › Student/instructed pilot
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability › Performance/control parameters › (general) › Not attained/maintained
Pilot
- Certificate: student
- Flight time: 38 hours in all; 38 in this make and model; 0 in the last 90 days; 0 in the last 30 days; 9 as pilot in command; 0 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: rgt
- Injury: minor injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 5,790.2 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, June 9, 2025; 16 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 1,750 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming HIO-360-G1A (piston); 7,585 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: 2I0 Madisonville KY at 10:30 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 05/2, 6,051 ft by 100 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 290° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 7,000 ft; a few clouds at 5,000 ft
- Temperature: 86°F (30°C), dew point 64°F (18°C)
- Altimeter: 29.97 inHg
- Observation at 5:56 pm from OWB, 26 miles away
Weather report (METAR): KOWB 022256Z 29005KT 10SM FEW050 BKN070 30/18 A2997 RMK AO2 SLP147 T03000183
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight crew | 1 |
Photographs from the investigation 3 pictures from the NTSB's docket, as the NTSB released them
Photograph 1 – Deformation noted to main rotor blades
Photograph 2 – Deformation and separations noted to the tubular structure
The NTSB's photographs with the NTSB's captions, at screen size. Open a picture to see it full size or to report one that should not be shown.
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
5 documents, released by the NTSB on November 14, 2025. View them here, or download them; the NTSB redacts some personal details before release, and this site shows the NTSB's own titles rather than its file names.
| # | Document | What it is | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pilot/operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 | PDF, 10 pages | View Download |
| 2 | Pilot's Statement | PDF, 1 page | View Download |
| 3 | Witness Statement | PDF, 1 page | View Download |
| 4 | Surveillance Video | video | View Download |
| 5 | Investigation Photographs | PDF, 4 pages · our copy | View Download |
The same docket at the NTSB · documents without a copy here are fetched from the NTSB when you open them.
Connections how this case links to the rest of the register
- N21385 on the register today · the tail number may have moved to another aircraft since
- Schweizer 269 300 series helicopters 212 registered today · the model family and its accident history
- Schweizer 1,187 aircraft on the register
- Engine: Lycoming HIO-360-G1A 36 aircraft carry this series today · as the NTSB recorded it
- Madisonville Regional · nearest airport
- Accidents and incidents in Kentucky 702 since 1982 · 111 in the last ten years
- Kentucky 2,981 aircraft registered
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/accident/ERA25LA255.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.