Sikorsky Aircraft Corp S-76 accident near Round Mountain, TX
On September 1, 2025, a Sikorsky Aircraft Corp S-76 (helicopter) was involved in an accident near Round Mountain, TX. 3 people were seriously injured. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- September 1, 2025
- Place
- Round Mountain, TX
- Aircraft
- Sikorsky Aircraft Corp S-76 · Helicopter
- Injuries
- 0 fatal, 3 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 30.344°N, 98.157°W
- NTSB ID
- 20250902200918
Official records · CEN25LA356
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
On August 31, 2025, about 2102 central daylight time, a Sikorsky S-76D helicopter, N36RP, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident near Round Mountain, Texas. The captain, the first officer, and the passenger sustained serious injuries. The helicopter was operated by Paradigm Helicopters, LLC, as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 on-demand flight. The purpose of the unaided night flight in the transport category helicopter was to transport the passenger from a commercial airport to a private heliport on a ranch in a rural area. Due to previous issues with the helicopter’s autopilot system and the possible concern of losing control in instrument meteorological conditions, the captain decided not to perform an instrument flight rules flight to the heliport. Prior to the flight, the captain completed the operator’s flight risk assessment tool. During the flight, an instrument approach was loaded into the helicopter’s flight management system, but it was not activated. Additionally, each pilot had an Apple iPad mounted in the cockpit, that was utilizing ForeFlight with the heliport coordinates loaded into ForeFlight. During the approach to the heliport, the captain contacted the ranch manager via text message on a cellular phone, to ensure the heliport floodlight system was activated. The first officer activated the heliport ground lights, which were a green color, via a radio frequency. Both pilots acknowledged observing green lights in their sight. The captain reported that he “cross-checked” the map display with the outside visual refere
Probable cause
The flight crew’s failure to properly identify the heliport in dark night conditions, which resulted in the flight crew attempting to land and a subsequent impact with trees and terrain.
More accidents in TX
- Kubicek BB85, Jul 30, 2016
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- Beech B100, Nov 26, 1983
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Browse: Texas · Sikorsky 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.
