Hiller UH-12E N22SP

Summary

On 30 April 2026 at about 22:30 local time, a Hiller UH-12E registered N22SP was involved in an accident near Chickasha, Oklahoma, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause has been published yet; this accident is still under investigation.

Date

30 April 2026 at 22:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Chickasha, Oklahoma, United States

Coordinates

34.9817, -97.9739

Aircraft

Hiller UH-12E

Registration

N22SP

Category

Helicopter

Year built

1959

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN26LA175

Nobody was injured.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. The investigation is still open; a final report usually follows one to two years after the accident.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

On April 30, 2026, about 1730 central daylight time, a Hiller UH-12E, N22SP, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Chickasha, Oklahoma. The pilot was not injured. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 aerial application flight. The pilot reported that he had completed two aerial application flights earlier that day and performed preflight inspections before both. About 1700, he began spraying a field and during the flight, the main rotor “developed a vertical hop,” and he observed one of the control rotor blades separate from the helicopter. The helicopter violently shook, and he conducted a forced landing to a field. During the landing, the main rotor blades struck the tail boom, which severed the tail boom near the tail rotor. The responding FAA inspector and the pilot located the separated control rotor blade in the field about 100 yards from the accident site. A review of the FAA airworthiness directives (AD) indicated that AD 97-10-16 was applicable to the Hiller UH-12 helicopter. The AD required (in part) that the control rotor blade spar tube (or cuff) be inspected for corrosion or cracks, or elongation, corrosion, burrs, pitting or fretting of the bolt holes…during the annual inspection, not to exceed 100 hours and every 100-hours thereafter. The actions specified by the AD are intended to prevent separation of the control rotor blade assembly and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter. According to the helicopter maintenance records, an annual inspection was completed on February 20, 2026. During the inspection, the control rotor cuffs and trunnions were overhauled and reinstalled in accordance with the Hiller overhaul manual. The records show that AD 97-10-16 was complied with at this time. The separated control rotor was retained for further examination.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.