American Eurocopter AS350B3 N3951A

Summary

On 25 June 2025 at about 16:50 local time, a American Eurocopter AS350B3 registered N3951A, operated by US Department of Homeland Security, was involved in an accident near San Luis, Arizona, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

25 June 2025 at 16:50

Classification

Accident

Location

San Luis, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Rollie Airfield (44A)

Coordinates

32.5163, -114.6984

Aircraft

American Eurocopter AS350B3

Registration

N3951A

Category

Helicopter

Year built

2010

Engines

1

Operator

US Department of Homeland Security

Operating rule

Public Use

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Yuma → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR25LA189

Nobody was injured.

The pilot receiving instruction’s failure to properly recover the helicopter during an autorotative landing and the instructor pilot’s failure to intervene, 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

According to the operator, the instructor and pilot receiving instruction were conducting hover autorotation training over cement that was visually obstructed by a hard packed dirt surface. On the third autorotation, the pilot under instruction established a hover at a slightly higher altitude than the previous two practice iterations. During recovery, the pilot receiving instruction executed the appropriate procedures, but the helicopter began to settle faster than expected and he was unable to sufficiently reduce the rate of descent. Subsequently, the helicopter landed hard and resulted in substantial damage to the tail boom. The operator reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.