What happened
On February 22, 2026, at 1510 central standard time, an Airbus EC130 T2 helicopter, registration N237SH, was involved in an accident near Evergreen, Alabama. The aircraft was operating as a Part 135 positioning flight for Air Methods LLC. Following a patient transport and a refueling stop at Pensacola International Airport (PNS), the pilot was returning to the home base at the Evergreen Medical Center helipad.
During the approach to the helipad, the pilot reported that the helicopter began an uncommand and leftward yaw. In an attempt to maintain airspeed and fly out of the situation, the pilot lowered the collective and pitched the nose forward. Despite these efforts, the yaw continued, and the aircraft impacted an object approximately 10 to 20 feet above the ground. Surveillance video showed the helicopter slowing and spinning into a leftward yaw before descending behind trees.
The aircraft struck the roof of a residential home, causing large dents and a gouge in the metal roof, before the main wreckage came to rest in the home's southern yard. The accident resulted in 3 serious injuries to the pilot and two medical crewmembers, with 0 fatalities.
The investigation
The wreckage site was located approximately 0.2 miles from the helipad. The airframe sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, tail boom, fenestron, main rotor assembly, and both horizontal stabilizers. The tail boom had separated from the fuselage.
Investigation of the fenestron revealed that it had mostly separated from the tail boom. The fenestron drive shaft had broken into multiple pieces, with fractures consistent with impact. While the fenestron rotor hub rotated without binding, the anti-torque pedals were found jammed due to impact damage. The anti-torque control cable was fractured and bent near the separated tail boom.
All three main rotor blades were destroyed. Control continuity was observed from the cyclic and collective to the rotor mast hydraulic actuators, though all hydraulic servos and control links sustained impact damage. The engine remained attached to the engine deck, and the gas generator and free turbine could be rotated by hand with no visible foreign object damage. The crash-resistant fuel system was relatively undamaged, containing approximately 50 gallons of fuel.