Date:	Saturday 11 October 2025
Time:	14:01
Type:	Bell 222SP
Owner/operator:	Private, opb Nixon Helicopters
Registration:	N222EX
MSN:	47043
Year of manufacture:	1980
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Category:	Accident
Location:	Huntington Beach, CA -   United States of America
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Redlands Municipal Airport, CA (KREI)
Destination airport:	Huntington Beach, CA
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
On October 11, 2025, at 1401 Pacific daylight time, a Bell 222 helicopter, N222EX, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Huntington Beach, California. The pilot and passenger received serious injuries. One person on the ground received serious injuries and two others received minor injuries. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

The pilot reported that he and the passenger departed from Redlands, California, and intended to land in a Huntington Beach parking lot for a large public event. The pilot approached Huntington Beach from north, then circled for a high-speed pass above Pacific Coast Highway headed northwest. The pilot circled again and completed a slow pass above the highway, then approached the parking lot from southeast. As the helicopter descended above the parking lot, he made a small right pedal input to straighten the helicopter, then the nose veered left, and he heard a loud noise from the back left side. The pilot turned right and increased the power to fly away from the confined landing area. As the right turn rate increased, the pilot was unable to maintain control of the helicopter.

Witness photos and videos revealed that during the high-speed pass, there were no apparent anomalies with the helicopter. During the slow pass, one of the tail rotor pitch links was disconnected from a tail rotor blade. As the helicopter approached the parking lot for landing, the pitch link remained disconnected (see figure 1).

The helicopter turned right and ascended as pieces of the tail rotor assembly began to separate. The tail rotor gearbox separated in half and the output side remained attached to the tail rotor assembly, then landed in the parking lot. The helicopter continued to spin right then impacted a staircase at the end of a pedestrian bridge.

Postaccident examination of the separated tail rotor assembly revealed that both pitch horns were fractured in half. All pitch horn bolts and associated hardware remained installed and secure.

The helicopter was retained for further examination.

Weather:
METAR KSNA 112053Z 20010KT 10SM FEW018 23/15 A2977 RMK AO2 SLP079 T02330150 58015 <<<
METAR KSNA 112153Z 21011KT 10SM CLR 23/15 A2976 RMK AO2 SLP075 T02330150

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-10-11/five-hospitalized-after-helicopter-crash-in-huntington-beach
https://abc7.com/post/5-people-injured-helicopter-crashes-huntington-beach/17987232/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15184395/Daredevil-aviation-enthusiast-Eric-Nixon-identified-owner-helicopter-crashed-California-Huntington-Beach.html
https://www.theautopian.com/passengers-survive-terrifying-helicopter-crash-at-cars-n-copters-event/
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/huntington-beach-helicopter-crash-preliminary-report

NTSB https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/201834/pdf

http://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=N222EX
https://www.aircraft.com/aircraft/28457883/n222ex-1980-bell-222sp
https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/N222EX/history/20251011/2027Z/KREI/L%2033.65048%20-117.99204
https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=a1e8e9&lat=33.648&lon=-117.994&zoom=15.2&showTrace=2025-10-11&trackLabels
https://photos.flightaware.com/photos/retriever/6b325ebe66d1dc2851d54d185004daafd2bf7cf3 (photo)

Ex XB-JBT, N602BA, N3895H

Disconnected pich link

[image or embed]

— Aerossurance (@aerossurance.bsky.social) November 6, 2025 at 8:20 PM

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
11-Oct-2025 23:53	Captain Adam	Added
12-Oct-2025 06:41	ASN	Updated [Destination airport, Narrative, ]
12-Oct-2025 06:52	RobertMB	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Total occupants, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ]
12-Oct-2025 09:17	Iceman 29	Updated [Embed code, ]
12-Oct-2025 13:44	YacineBoussoufa	Updated [Embed code, ]
12-Oct-2025 13:45	ASN	Updated [Embed code, ]
12-Oct-2025 16:57	techo61	Updated [Country, Embed code, Narrative, ]
12-Oct-2025 16:59	ASN	Updated [Narrative, ]
12-Oct-2025 18:12	Capi Cris	Updated [Country, ]
12-Oct-2025 19:02	Aerossurance	Updated [Time, Operator, Phase, Destination airport, Narrative, ]
14-Oct-2025 06:17	RobertMB	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative, ]
14-Oct-2025 13:39	Superblacknice111222	Updated [Damage, Narrative, ]
17-Oct-2025 08:23	RobertMB	Updated [Embed code, Damage, Narrative, ]
06-Nov-2025 19:09	Captain Adam	Updated [Time, Phase, Source, Narrative, ]
06-Nov-2025 20:22	Aerossurance	Updated [Embed code, ]
06-Nov-2025 20:24	Aerossurance	Updated [Phase, Source, Embed code, ]