No fatalities

ROBINSON HELICOPTER R44 accident at Daytona Beach, FL, 30 Dec 2023

Daytona Beach, FL, United States

On December 30, 2023, a ROBINSON HELICOPTER R44 operated by Leading Edge Helicopters was involved in an aviation accident near Daytona Beach, FL. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The UAS operator’s failure to operate within the limitations of the COA that he was using to operate inside class C airspace, which resulted in a collision between the UAS and the helicopter. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 14 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 2026-08-03Data APIEditorial standards

Probable cause

The UAS operator’s failure to operate within the limitations of the COA that he was using to operate inside class C airspace, which resulted in a collision between the UAS and the helicopter.

— NTSB Determination

Contributing factors

Pilot of other aircraftPilot