What happened
On September 6, 2025, at approximately 14:42 CDT, a Robinson R66 helicopter, registration N6633L, crashed near Lakeville, Minnesota. The aircraft had departed from a farm near Jordan, Minnesota, at 14:34 and was traveling toward New Richmond Regional Airport (RNH) in Wisconsin.
The helicopter struck the ground near a cornfield approximately 0.2 nautical miles northwest of Airlake Airport (LVN). Following the impact, a fire occurred that destroyed the aircraft. The accident resulted in 2 fatal injuries to the pilot and passenger.
Witness testimony indicated the helicopter was initially flying straight and level before performing a sharp right turn with the nose pointing toward the ground. Video surveillance from near the approach end of runway 12 at LVN captured the aircraft impacting the ground in a nose-low attitude on its right side.
The investigation
The wreckage was distributed along a 55-foot path between a cornfield and a rail car, including the fuselage, landing gear, tail cone, empennage, tail rotor, and most of the main rotor. Some pieces of the main rotor blades were located 610 feet southeast of the impact site near the approach end of runway 12.
Due to damage from the impact, functional testing of the main rotor and tail rotor flight controls was not possible. Investigators noted the main rotor drive shaft was bent above the swashplate, though manual movement confirmed continuity from the input yoke through the driveshaft to the tail rotor output yoke. The tail rotor input yoke was rotated by hand without finding any anomalies.