Bell 407 N407WA

Summary

On 16 September 2025 at about 02:15 local time, a Bell 407 registered N407WA, operated by Med-Trans Corp, was involved in an accident near Decatur, Texas, United States. 3 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 September 2025 at 02:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Decatur, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Decatur Municipal Airport (LUD)

Coordinates

33.2542, -97.5806

Aircraft

Bell 407

Registration

N407WA

Category

Helicopter

Year built

1997

Engines

1

Operator

Med-Trans Corp

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Denton → Decatur

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

CEN25LA380

1 person had minor injuries.

The instructor candidate’s erroneous operation of the throttle during an autorotation from altitude with power recovery, which resulted in a hard landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The operator reported that a hard landing occurred during a night training flight that was conducted for a newly hired helicopter pilot and a company flight instructor candidate. The training was being conducted by the flight instructor candidate while both pilots were being observed by a company flight instructor from the right rear seat. After conducting numerous other training events during the flight, the flight instructor announced to the pilot-under-instruction that the next event was going to be a straight in autorotation from altitude with a power recovery. The instructor then briefed the pilot-under-instruction on how the maneuver was to be conducted. During the descent the pilot-under-instruction initiated deceleration using aft cyclic. The instructor began increasing the throttle to the maximum position. However, the instructor noticed that the rpm was about 95% and he believed the engine had not responded appropriately. He then responded by moving the throttle towards the idle position. Recognizing his mistake, he then attempted to correct by increasing the throttle back to maximum power. After this he focused his attention outside the cockpit due to the low altitude. Shortly after the pilot-under-instruction recalled hearing the instructor say something to the effect, it’s not recoverable, prepare for impact. He attempted to arrest the decent before impact but was unsuccessful. The helicopter subsequently impacted the runway and came to rest on the lower fuselage which resulted in substantial damage to the tail boom. The operator reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.