Accidents
Business Aircraft Accident Reports: February 2026
Preliminary and final accident reports, February 2026
rural runway

Preliminary Reports

Chalk Buttes Crash Claims Four

Robinson R66, Oct. 22, 2025, Ekalaka, Montana

The pilot, his wife, and two of their three children were killed when the helicopter crashed in the Chalk Buttes Range 12 minutes after taking off from a private ranch south of Ekalaka Airport (97M). Their third child was not on board. The helicopter was flying in trail with a Cessna 182 whose pilot lost the helicopter’s ADS-B track about a minute after the R66 flew through a gap in the southwest end of the buttes.