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CEN25LA359

2025-08-30 · Nashville, Arkansas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport NONE

Current FAA registration · N442PR

Make / Model
ROBINSON HELICOPTER R44 II
Year of manufacture
2006 · 19 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR IO-540 SER (380 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
20060524
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A55360

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s inadequate fuel planning which resulted in a total loss of power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the landing zone being unlit.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that while enroute, about two minutes from his planned landing zone, the low-fuel light illuminated. He flew past the intended landing zone, which was unlit, and continued searching for the landing zone until the engine suffered a total loss of power due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot initiated an autorotation, and, while searching for a landing reference, the helicopter impacted a power pole. The helicopter came to rest upright and sustained substantial damage to the tail boom, fuselage, and main rotor system. The pilot reported that the accident could have been prevented by monitoring the fuel level and having lighting at his landing zone. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Fuel planning-Pilot
  • — Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid level
  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Pole-Contributed to outcome

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2025_CEN25LA359.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel exhaustion). All research papers