Robinson Helicopter R44 accident near Danville, VA
On March 15, 2025, a Robinson Helicopter R44 (helicopter) was involved in an accident near Danville, VA. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- March 15, 2025
- Place
- Danville, VA
- Aircraft
- Robinson Helicopter R44 · Helicopter
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 36.649°N, 79.494°W
- NTSB ID
- 20250315199861
NTSB summary
On March 15, 2025, about 1500 eastern daylight time, a Robinson R44 helicopter, N331ES, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Danville, Virginia. The pilot was fatally injured. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. About 1438, the pilot completed a sightseeing flight and dropped the two passengers off at their home. According to one of the passengers, the pilot ended the flight early due to fog which restricted inflight visibility. The passenger provided a photograph (See Figure 1) that was captured during the sightseeing flight that showed the reported fog and reduced visibilities. Figure 1. Passenger photograph from the sightseeing flight taken at 1425 (Source: Sightseeing passenger.) At 1439, the pilot sent a text message to a friend stating that he was en route to a restaurant located about 12 miles east from where he had dropped off the passengers. At 1446, the pilot again texted his friend and wrote that he encountered fog and made a precautionary landing at a convenience store about 3.3 miles north of the passenger drop off location. According to a witness near the convenience store, about 1455, the helicopter took off and then “disappeared in the fog”. The witness estimated that he heard a sound consistent with the helicopter impacting the ground less than a minute after it disappeared into the fog. According to video footage provided by a witness, the helicopter made a southeasterly departure from the convenience store. A screenshot from the witness video is presented as figure 2. Figure 2. T
More accidents in VA
- Boeing 757-200, Sep 11, 2001
- Beech B99, Sep 23, 1985
- Beech 65, Sep 10, 1995
- Beech 200, Oct 24, 2004
- Piper PA-31-310, Nov 14, 1982
Browse: Virginia · Robinson aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
