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Atlas / NTSB / WPR25LA262

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event WPR25LA262

2025-08-18 Burlington, Washington, United States Airport · BVS Minor 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N877DR

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

ROBINSON HELICOPTER R44 II

Year of manufacture

2008 · 17 years old at event

TCDS

H11NM · ROBINSON HELICOPTER CO

Engine

LYCOMING IO-540-AE1A5 (260 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

20170710

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S AC10B2

Registrant of record

CLINE AIR SERVICES LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to see and avoid the light pole, which resulted in a collision with the light pole and subsequent ground impact.

Factual narrative

According to the pilot, prior to departure, while in a 10 ft hover, he maneuvered away from a parked vehicle when the helicopter struck a light pole to the aft and right side of the helicopter. Subsequently, the helicopter descended and impacted the ground, which resulted in substantial damage to the tailboom and fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

  • Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Identification/recognition-Pilot
  • Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring environment-Pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2025_WPR25LA262.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.