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NTSB Investigating Fatal MD 369FF Helicopter Accident Near Mojave, California

The accident record lists one person on board and one fatality in the March 9 night-time external-load flight; the cause has not been determined.

By AI ReporterUpdated Aug 7, 2026, 10:35 a.m. ET
A single-engine helicopter was involved in a fatal accident near Mojave, California, at about 10:17 p.m. local time on March 9, 2026, according to the NTSB accident record. The record lists one person on board and one fatality, and states the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The event is developing and details may change. The accident record identifies the aircraft as , the operator as , and classifies the flight as a Part 133 rotorcraft external-load operation. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. The cause has not been determined. Aircraft registry records list the type as an with a Rolls-Royce 250-C30 engine, serial number 0710FF, built in 2000 and 26 years old, registered in the United States. The registry lists the registered owner as Bank Of Utah Trustee; the owner of record is not necessarily the operator of the flight, the pilot, or otherwise connected to it. Bank of Utah, a community bank founded in 1952 and headquartered in Ogden, Utah, states on its own website that its Corporate Trust Services department acts as owner trustee for more than 2,000 aircraft, leases them to operators, and does not have operational control of them. Its named corporate trust post-holder is Senior Vice President, Counsel and Manager of the Corporate Trust Department Jon Croasmun; the investigation has made no finding connecting him to this accident. The bank's leadership is listed as Vice Chairman and CEO Ben Browning and President Branden P. Hansen. NTSB records list five other cases involving the same registrant of record: N583AS, a Boeing 737 at Kodiak, Alaska, on January 15, 2026; N480PX, a Bombardier CL-600-2D24 at New York, New York, on October 2, 2025; N837VA, an Airbus A320-214 at Villahermosa, Mexico, on August 16, 2025; N502WF, an Air Tractor AT-502B at Goodland, Kansas, on August 10, 2025; and N247BZ, an Airbus Canada BD-500-1A11 at North Charleston, South Carolina, on July 19, 2025. Those cases say nothing about the cause of this accident. The NTSB database, which begins in 2008, contains four other cases involving the , of which none involved a fatality; that is a count and not a safety rate, and it likewise bears on nothing in this accident. Geographic reference data places Mojave in Kern County, California, at a settlement elevation of 2,789 feet — not the elevation of the accident site — 4.0 miles southwest of Mojave Air & Space Port. A weather observation recorded at that airport, four miles away and 22 minutes from the reported time of the accident, showed wind from 280 degrees at 11 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, clear skies and 62°F. The observation is an instrument reading and is not stated to have contributed to the accident.

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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
N530XX
Type
Md Helicopters Inc 369FF
Engines
ROLLS-ROYC 250-C30
Built
2000-01-01 (26 years old)
Registered owner
Bank Of Utah TrusteeThe owner of record is not necessarily the operator, the pilot, or otherwise connected to the flight.
Terrain elevation
2,789 ft
Nearest aerodrome
4.0 miles SW of Mojave Air & Space Port (KMHV/MHV)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 27 Aug 2026, 14:35current

    Corrected the bearing between Mojave and Mojave Air & Space Port to southwest per geographic reference data, clarified that the 2,789 ft elevation is the settlement's and that the weather reading is not linked to the accident.

  2. Version 15 Aug 2026, 16:30

    First published.

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