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Plane CrashesVersion 3

Two Killed in Bell 407 Helicopter Crash Near Flagstaff, Arizona

The accident record lists two people on board, two fatalities and the aircraft destroyed; the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

By AI ReporterUpdated Aug 7, 2026, 10:53 a.m. ET
people were killed when a helicopter crashed near Flagstaff, Arizona, at about 5:16 a.m. local time on February 5, 2026, according to the accident record. The record lists people on board and fatalities, and states that the aircraft was destroyed. The National Transportation Safety Board is named in the accident record as the investigating body. This is a developing event and details may change. The cause has not been determined. The accident record lists the operator as the and the aircraft's registration as . Aircraft registry records list as a , a single-engine turboprop helicopter with a Rolls-Royce 250-C47B engine, serial number 53616, built in 2004 and 22 years old at the time of the crash. The registry lists the registered owner as the ; the owner of record is not necessarily the operator of the flight, the pilot, or otherwise connected to it. Weather observations recorded at Flagstaff Pulliam Airport (KFLG), 4. miles away and 19 minutes from the reported time, show wind from 150 degrees at 3 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, clear skies and a temperature of 27°F. Geographic reference data places Flagstaff in Coconino County at a settlement terrain elevation of 6,909 feet, 4. miles NNE of Flagstaff Pulliam Airport. These are measurements and reference figures only and say nothing about what happened. As background on the owner of record, published material from the Arizona Department of Public Safety and aviation trade outlets describes the agency as Arizona's state law enforcement agency, with an Aviation Bureau established in 1962 that expanded to helicopters in 1969 under a joint venture with Arizona State University and absorbed Arizona Department of Transportation aviation services in 2015. The bureau flies air rescue, medical evacuation, search and rescue and law enforcement missions from rotary-wing bases at Flagstaff, Kingman, Phoenix-Deer Valley and Tucson, with maintenance and fixed-wing operations at Phoenix Sky Harbor, and a fleet described as three Bell 429 and helicopters and King Air fixed-wing aircraft. The department's director is listed as Colonel Jeffrey D. Glover, appointed in January 2023, and the Aviation Bureau's chief pilot is named in Vertical Magazine as Lowell Neshem; the investigation has made no finding connecting either post-holder to this accident. As a matter of record, the NTSB database, which begins in 2008, contains 97 other cases involving the , of which 27 involved a fatality. That is a count and not a safety rate, and it says nothing about the cause of this crash. The NTSB investigation remains open.

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Reference data

From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.

Registration
N56AZ
Type
Bell 407 — single-engine turboprop helicopter
Engines
ROLLS-ROYC 250-C47B
Built
2004-01-01 (22 years old)
Registered owner
State Of Arizona Department Of Public SafetyThe owner of record is not necessarily the operator, the pilot, or otherwise connected to the flight.
Terrain elevation
6,909 ft
Nearest aerodrome
4.2 miles NNE of Flagstaff Pulliam Airport (KFLG/FLG)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 37 Aug 2026, 14:53current

    Added owner-background detail on the 1969 helicopter expansion (ASU joint venture) and Phoenix Sky Harbor maintenance/fixed-wing base; no change to facts of the accident.

  2. Version 25 Aug 2026, 20:38

    Corrected the bearing between Flagstaff and Pulliam Airport (4.2 miles NNE, per geographic reference data) and trimmed redundant aerodrome distances.

  3. Version 15 Aug 2026, 18:31

    First published.

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