List of accidents and incidents involving helicopters

This article is a list of accidents and incidents involving helicopters and which are notable enough to have an article on Wikipedia. It is grouped by the years in which the accidents and incidents occurred.

1966[]

• 2 February – Sikorsky S-61N, AP-AOC, operating Pakistan International Airlines Flight 17, crashes near Faridpur, East Pakistan following a mechanical failure. Twenty-three of the 24 people on board are killed.
• 11 December – UnknownN, ABC News, flying over Sydney Harbour

1968[]

• 22 May – Sikorsky S-61L N303Y, operating Los Angeles Airways Flight 841, suffers a mechanical failure in flight which allows the rotor blades to collide with the aircraft's fuselage. It crashes at Paramount, California, killing all 23 people on board.
• 14 August – Sikorsky S-61L N300Y, operating Los Angeles Airways Flight 417, loses a rotor blade in flight and crashes at Compton, California. All 21 people on board are killed.

1975[]

• 17 January – Sikorsky S-55B helicopter crashed by the farm Hjarðarnes in Hvalfjörður, Iceland, while en route from Reykjavík Airport to Snæfellsnes.

1977[]

• 10 May – A Sikorsky CH-53 Yas'ur of the Israeli Air Force crashes in the Jordan Valley. All 54 people on board are killed.
• 1 August – A Bell 206 news helicopter piloted by Francis Gary Powers ran out of fuel and crashes into a field near Encino, Los Angeles, killing Powers and the aircraft's only passenger, cameraman George Spears.

1978[]

• 21 June – Two Boeing CH-47 Chinooks of the Imperial Iranian Air Force are shot down by the Soviet Air Defence Forces after straying into Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic airspace. One aircraft is destroyed with the loss of eight lives. The other is damaged; it is later repaired with permission from Soviet authorities and returns to Iran.
• 26 June – Sikorsky S-61 LN-OQS of Helikopter Service loses a rotor blade in flight and crashes into the North Sea off Bergen, Norway. All eighteen people on board are killed.

1981[]

• 13 August – Westland Wessex G-ASWI of Bristow Helicopters suffers an engine failure and ditches in the North Sea off the coast of Norfolk, United Kingdom. All thirteen people on board are killed.

1982[]

• 23 July – Bell UH-1 Iroquois N87701 of Western Helicopters is damaged by pyrotechnic explosions while a scene for Twilight Zone: The Movie is being filmed at Indian Dunes, California. Actor Vic Morrow and 2 child actors are killed on the ground.
• 14 September – Bell 212 G-BDIL owned by Bristow Helicopters crashes while on a nighttime search and rescue mission in the North Sea, killing all six crew members on board.

1983[]

• 16 July – Sikorsky S-61 G-BEON of British Airways crashes into the Atlantic Ocean between the coast of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Twenty of the 26 people on board are killed.

1986[]

• 18 June – Bell 206 N6TC of Helitech collides with Grand Canyon Airlines Flight 6 in mid-air over the Grand Canyon in Arizona, United States. All five people on board are killed, as are all twenty people on board the de Havilland Twin Otter that it collided with.
• 22 October – An Enstrom F-28 of Spectrum Helicopters suffers a mechanical failure and crashed into the Hudson River on the west side of New York City, killing WNBC (AM) traffic reporter Jane Dornacker.
• 6 November – Boeing 234LR Chinook G-BWFC of British International Helicopters suffers a mechanical failure. The aircraft ditches at sea off Sumburgh Airport, Shetland Islands, killing 45 of the 47 people on board.

1988[]

• 13 July – Sikorsky S-61N G-BEID of British International Helicopters suffers an engine fire and ditches into the North Sea off the Shetland Islands. All 21 people on board are rescued.

1990[]

• 27 August – A Bell 206 helicopter crashed into the side of a ski slope in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, killing all five people on board including Stevie Ray Vaughan.
• 27 September – According to former aviation section of Japan Transport Ministry official confirmed report, a MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 type helicopter crush and collision onto Mount Makishima, during heavy dense fog, Hyūga, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan, total ten person were lost to lives, include eight Asahi Kasei employee.^{[citation needed]}

1991[]

• 4 April – A Bell 412 and Piper Aerostar collide in mid-air in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All five people on both aircraft, including United States senator John Heinz, along with two children on the ground, are killed.
• 27 June – A Yugoslav Mi-8 was shot down by the Slovenian Territorial Defence while transporting bread. Later it turned out the pilot was actually a member of the territorial defence. This put then defence minister Janez Janša in a bad light. All 3 people aboard the helicopter died on impact.
• 5 August – According to former aviation section of Japan Transport Ministry official confirmed report, a Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin type helicopter, bound for Yumura spa, crash onto Mount Ōmine, during dense cloud condition, Muraoka (now Kami) Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, total eight passengers and crew were human fatalities.^{[citation needed]}
• 25 October – A Bell 206 crashes into a high-voltage transmission tower near Vallejo, California, during bad weather. All three on board are killed, including Bill Graham.
• 20 November – A Mil Mi-8 belong to the Azerbaijani Government is shot down by the Armenian military. It crashes near Karakend. All 22 people on board are killed.

1992[]

• 28 January – An Azerbaijani Mil Mi-8 is shot down near Shusha by Armenian forces. All 44 people on board are killed.

1993[]

• 12 July – Davey Allison, flying his Hughes 369HS helicopter crashes while attempting to land at Talladega Superspeedway. Allison died the following morning. Passenger Red Farmer survived.
• 26 November – Aérospatiale AS 355 F1 ZK-HIT of the New Zealand Police collides in mid-air with Piper Archer ZK-ENX over Auckland. Both aircraft crash, killing all four people on board.

1994[]

• 2 June – Boeing Chinook HC2 ZD576 of the Royal Air Force crashes on the Mull of Kintyre, Argyll. All 29 people on board are killed.

1995[]

• 19 January – Aérospatiale AS332 Super Puma G-TIGK, operating Bristow Flight 56C is struck by lightning and ditches in the North Sea off the coast of Aberdeenshire. All eighteen people on board survive.

1997[]

• 4 February – Two Sikorsky S-65C-3 Yas'ur 2000s, serials 357 and 903, of the Israeli Air Force collide in mid-air over She'ar Yashuv and crash. All 73 people on board the two aircraft are killed.
• 8 September – Eurocopter AS332L Super Puma LN-OPG operating Helikopter Service Flight 451 suffers a mechanical failure and crashed into the Norwegian Sea. All twelve people on board are killed.

2001[]

• 17 September – A Mil Mi-8 of the Russian Armed Forces is shot down at Grozny, Chechnya. All thirteen people on board are killed.

2002[]

• 27 January – A Mil Mi-8 of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs is shot down near Shelkovskaya, Chechnya. All fourteen people on board are killed.
• 16 July – Sikorsky S-76A G-BJVX of Bristow Helicopters crashes into the North Sea off the coast of Norfolk following the loss of its rotor head in flight. All eleven people on board are killed.
• 19 August – A Mil Mi-26 of the Russian Air Force is shot down by Chechen separatists and crashes at Khankala, Chechnya. One hundred and twenty-seven people are killed.

2003[]

• 4 December – A Mil Mi-8 of the Polish Air Force crashes near Piaseczno. All fifteen people on board, including the Polish Prime Minister, Leszek Miller, survive.

2005[]

• 26 January – A Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion crashed while flying during a sandstorm in the Al-Anbar province of western Iraq, near the town of Ar-Rutbah. All 31 occupants were killed.
• 10 August – Sikorsky S-76C+ OH-HCI, operating Copterline Flight 103, crashes into Tallinn Bay. All fourteen people on board are killed.

2006[]

• 10 December – Bell 412SP N410MA of Mercy Air Services, Inc. crashes near Hesperia, California. All three people on board are killed.
• 27 December – Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin G-BLUN of CHC Helicopter crashes into Morecambe Bay. All six people on board are killed.

2007[]

• 5 March – An Aérospatiale AS 332C1 Super Puma collided mid-air with a smaller Diamond DV20 Katana near the Zell am See Airport in Austria. All 8 people on board the two aircraft were killed.
• 27 April – A Mil Mi-8 of the Russian Air Force crashes near Shatoy, Chechnya. All twenty people on board are killed.
• 3 June – A Mil Mi-8 of Paramount Airlines crashes at Lungi, Sierra Leone. At least 21 of the 22 people on board are killed.
• 27 July – Two Eurocopter AS350 AStars, N215TV and N613TV, collide in mid-air above Phoenix, Arizona. All four people on board the two aircraft are killed.
• 15 September — Rally driver Colin McRae, his son and two friends were killed when he crashed the Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil he was flying north of Lanark, Scotland.

2008[]

• 12 January – Mil Mi-17 transport helicopter belonging to the Armed Forces of the Republic of Macedonia crashed near the village of Blace, in the region of Katlanovo,^[1] approximately 10–15 kilometres south-east of Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. All 11 individuals aboard the helicopter, including 8 passengers and 3 crew members, were killed.^[2]

2009[]

• 17 January – A Eurocopter AS 532 of the French Navy crashes shortly after take-off from the amphibious assault ship off the coast of Gabon. Eight of the ten people on board are killed.
• 12 March – Sikorsky S-92 C-GZCH, operating Cougar Helicopters Flight 91, suffers a mechanical failure and ditches in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Seventeen of the eighteen people on board are killed.
• 25 March – Bell 206L-4 LongRanger TC-HEK of Medair crashed into Mount Keş, Turkey, killing all six people on board.
• 1 April – Eurocopter AS332L2 Super Puma Mk 2 G-REDL of Bond Offshore Helicopters suffers a mechanical failure and crashes into the North Sea off the coast of Aberdeenshire. All sixteen people on board are killed.
• 3 May – Mil Mi-35 EV 08114 of the Venezuelan Army crashes in Táchira province. All eighteen people on board are killed.
• 3 July – A Pakistan Army Mil Mi-17 helicopter crashed in Khyber Pass, Pakistan, killing all 41 people on board.
• 8 August – A Eurocopter AS350 collided with a Piper PA-32R over the Hudson River between Hoboken, New Jersey and New York City, USA. All six occupants of the helicopter were killed, as were all three occupants of the Piper aircraft.
• 2 September – Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Bell 430 helicopter crash, killing all 5 people on board.

2010[]

• 26 July – A Sikorsky CH-53 Yas'ur of the Israeli Air Force crashes in the Bucegi Mountains, Romania. All seven people on board are killed.

2011[]

• 19 April – Mil Mi-172 VT-PHF of Pawan Hans crashes on landing at Tawang Town, India. Seventeen of the 23 people on board are killed.
• 6 August – A Boeing CH-47 Chinook of the United States Military is shot down by a rocket propelled grenade in Afghanistan. All 38 people on board and a military dog are killed.

2012[]

• 10 June – Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil 5Y-CDT of the Kenya Police crashes in the Ngong Forest. All six people on board are killed.
• 21 December – Mil Mi-8 RA-27003, operating as United Nations Flight 544 is shot down by the Sudan People's Liberation Army in a friendly fire incident. The aircraft crashes at , South Sudan, killing all five people on board.

2013[]

• 16 January – AgustaWestland AW109 G-CRST collides with a crane at Vauxhall, London and crashes. The pilot is killed, as is a pedestrian.
• 21 March – A Eurocopter EC155 and a Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma were involved in a collision on the ground near the Olympic Stadium in Berlin leaving one crew member dead.
• 7 April – Helipac Mil Mi8-PS OB-1916-P crashes in the Loreto Region of Peru. All thirteen people on board are killed.
• 2 July – Polar Airlines Mil Mi-8 RA-22657 crashes near Deputatsky, Siberia. Twenty-four of the 28 people on board are killed.
• 23 August – A CHC Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma Mk 2 crashed into the sea 2 nm from Sumburgh in the Shetland Islands, Scotland while en route from Borgsten Dolphin oil platform. The accident killed four of the passengers; 12 other passengers and two crew were rescued.
• 29 November – Bond Air Services Eurocopter EC135-T2+ crashes onto the roof of a pub in Glasgow. All three people on board are killed, as are ten people in the pub.

2014[]

• 7 January – a USAF HH-60G Pave Hawk was hit by a flock of geese during a training exercise over the Cley Marshes near Norfolk, United Kingdom killing all four people on board
• 13 March – AgustaWestland AW139 G-LBAL of Haughey Air crashes shortly after take-off from Gillingham, Norfolk, killing all four people on board.
• 12 November – an Armenian Mil Mi-24 was shot down near Gəngərli village, Agdam, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, killing all three crew members.

2015[]

• 8 March – Bell Huey pilot, Willem 'Bees' Marais, is killed performing a crash-landing during active firefighting duty in the Cape of Good Hope section of the Table Mountain National Park during the 2015 Western Cape fire season.^[3]
• 9 March – Two Eurocopter AS350B3 Ecureuils LQ-CGK and LQ-FJQ were involved in a mid-air collision and crash, killing all ten people on board.
• 10 March – A United States Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk crashed off the coast of the Florida Panhandle during a training exercise killing all eleven people on board.
• 8 May – A Pakistan Army Mil Mi-17 crashed, killing eight people, including the ambassadors of Norway and the Philippines.^[4][5]
• 4 August – A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed in northwestern Colombia, killing 16 of the 18 people on board.
• 12 August – A Sikorski S-76C+ crashed off Oworonshoki, Lagos Lagoon in Nigeria., killing 6 people including the pilot and co-pilot. Six passengers survived the crash. Accident Sikorsky S-76C+ 5N-BGD, 12 Aug 2015
• 21 November – A Eurocopter AS350D Astar helicopter crashed on Fox Glacier in the South Island of New Zealand, killing all seven people on board.

2016[]

• 14 January – Two U.S. Marine Corps CH53E helicopters collide off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, killing all 12 passengers on board.
• 29 April – A CHC Helikopter Service Eurocopter EC225 crashes near Turøy, Norway. All thirteen people on board are killed.
• 26 June – A Colombian Army Mil Mi-17 crashes in mountainous terrain 180 km north-west of Bogota, killing all 17 passengers on board.
• 6 July 2016 – Prototype Bell 525 Relentless crashed near Italy, Texas, destroying the prototype Bell 525 Relentless helicopter and killing the two occupants.^[6]
• 21 October – A Skol Airlines Mil Mi-8 crashes in Siberia's Yamal Peninsula, killing 19 of the 22 people on board.

2017[]

• 10 March – A Sikorsky S-76 crashed in Istanbul, killing all seven people on board.
• 14 March – A Sikorsky S-92 crashed off County Mayo on Ireland′s west coast. All four crew members on board died.
• 8 September – A Schweizer 269C carrying country music star Troy Gentry crashed near Medford, NJ killing Gentry and the pilot. The singer was scheduled to perform a concert that evening at the Flying W Airport near the scene of the crash.

2018[]

• 17 January – A Bell UH-1H Iroquois helicopter crashed and caught fire near Raton, New Mexico, killing five of the six people on board.^[7]
• 27 October – An AgustaWestland AW169 helicopter carrying Leicester City F.C. chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha crashed and caught fire outside the King Power Stadium in Leicester, United Kingdom, killing all five people on board.

2020[]

• 26 January – A Sikorsky S-76 helicopter carrying retired basketball player Kobe Bryant, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Maria "Gigi" Bryant, crashed outside of Calabasas, California killing all nine on board. The victims, three of whom were players, were headed to a basketball tournament at the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks. The other victims were baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri, and their daughter Alyssa, 13; mother and daughter Sarah and Payton Chester, 45 and 13 respectively; Mamba Academy basketball coach Christina Mauser; and pilot Ara Zobayan.

2021[]

• 4 March – A Turkish Air Force (TAF) Eurocopter AS532 Cougar, en route to Tatvan District in Bitlis, Turkey, crashed in Bitlis Province. Eleven Turkish servicemen on board were killed in the crash, while two other servicemen survived the crash. Initially, five injured servicemen were hospitalized, though three of them, including Lieutenant General Osman Erbaş, the commander of the 8th Corps, later died of wounds.^[8][9]
• 5 March – A Robinson R44 helicopter carrying Motswana musician Sasa Klaas, crashed in the outskirts of Xumabee near Sojwe. Klaas was killed and the pilot survived.^[10]
• 7 March – A Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil carrying French billionaire Olivier Dassault crashes shortly after takeoff in northwestern France near Deauville. Dassault and the pilot were the only people on board and were both killed. ^[11]
• 28 March – An carrying Czech billionaire Petr Kellner crashed in Alaska's backcountry, killing the pilot and four others.^[12]
• 4 June – A Mil Mi-8 helicopter crashes in the Alay District in Kyrgyzstan, injuring nearly 13 people.^[13][14]

References[]