EC135P2+ Air Ambulance Fatal Accident Mississippi 10 March 2025 (Med-Trans AirCare 3 N835CS)
On 10 March 2025 Airbus Helicopters EC135P2+ air ambulance N835CS, operated by Med-Trans Corporation (part of Global Medical Response) as AirCare 3, was destroyed in an accident near Canton, Mississippi. The pilot (who had 10,644 hours total time), the flight paramedic and flight nurse were fatally injured.
Wreckage of Med-Trans Airbus EC135P2+ N835CS (Credit: NTSB)
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a preliminary report on 4 April 2025.
The Accident Flight – Preliminary Details
The helicopter was repositioning day VFR to its home base, Golden Triangle Regional Airport (GTR), Columbus, Mississippi, after transporting a patient to the St Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital Heliport (MS46), Jackson, Mississippi.
According to the NTSB:
A preliminary review of automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data showed the helicopter departed from MS46 and began to climb to the northeast. The helicopter flew over the Ross R. Barnett Reservoir, and the flightpath remained south of the Natchez Trace Parkway.
Med-Trans Airbus EC135P2+ N835CS Route (in Red) Overlaid on a VFR Chart (Credit: NTSB)
The helicopter eventually reached an altitude of about 2,500 ft above mean sea level (msl). Shortly after the helicopter flew over the Pearl River State Wildlife Management Area, it began to descend.
Med-Trans Airbus EC135P2+ N835CS Final Flightpath (in Blue). Fish Hatchery Marked with Yellow ‘X’ (Credit: NTSB – ADS-B Data Overlaid on Google Earth)
Shortly after the helicopter flew over the Pearl River State Wildlife Management Area, it began to descend. About halfway through the descent, the flight nurse transmitted over the radio to the UMMC MED-COM, “we’ve got a major problem, we are having an emergency landing in a field right now, ops are not good, controls are giving us a lot of trouble, coming in fast.” No further radio transmissions were recorded from the helicopter from either the UMMC MEDCOM or ATC.
During the descent, the helicopter turned to the north. It impacted multiple trees just to the south of a flat grass field 1/4 mile southwest of the Turcotte Fish Hatchery. There was a postimpact fire that burned for about 3 hours, due to the remote location.
The Turcotte Fish Hatchery manager was inside his truck near the hatchery ponds at the time, 700 yards from the accident site:
He heard a “boom” or an “explosion,” which is what first drew his attention to the helicopter. He looked toward the hatchery and saw the helicopter while it was airborne. He…could not recall hearing any engine sound after the “boom,” and the helicopter sound was not noticeable to him.
The helicopter…
…did not change course and was pointed straight at him before it turned north and descended “at a pretty good rate.” It appeared to him that the pilot was “having trouble controlling” the helicopter. The witness reported that he did not see any smoke or fire from the helicopter.
The helicopter was…
…descending at a pretty good rate, which he estimated as a 40° to 45° descent angle. He said the helicopter’s estimated nose down attitude was about 30°. He said there was “a little wobble” of the nose from left to right. The helicopter was rolling “just a little bit.” He said the time from the “boom” to helicopter’s impact with the ground spanned no more than about 15 seconds.
NTSB report that the helicopter had undergone its most recent inspection 2.7 flying hours before the accident. The NTSB do not comment on what inspection this was. A review of data on FlightAware indicated that the aircraft was on the ground at Key Field, Meridian, Mississippi between 28 February and 4 March 2025, approximately that number of flying hours earlier.
Med-Trans Airbus EC135P2+ N835CS Seen Landing the Day Before (Credit: Med-Trans via NTSB)
The NTSB investigation is on-going and we will update this article as more information is released.
Safety Resources
The European Safety Promotion Network Rotorcraft (ESPN-R) has a helicopter safety discussion group on LinkedIn. You may also find these Aerossurance articles of interest:
- EC135 Air Ambulance CFIT when Pilot Distracted Correcting Tech Log Errors
- AAIB Report on Glasgow Police EC135 Clutha Helicopter Accident
- EC135P2+ Loss of NR Control During N2 Adjustment Flight
- Maintenance Misdiagnosis Precursor to EC135T2 Tail Rotor Control Failure
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- Night CHC HEMS BK117 Loss of Control
- Norwegian HEMS Landing Wirestrike
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- Air Ambulance EC135 Loss of Control & Main Rotor / Engine Overspeeds
- Managing Interruptions: HEMS Call-Out During Engine Rinse
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- Ambulance / Air Ambulance Collision
- Austrian Police EC135P2+ Impacted Glassy Lake
- US Fatal Night HEMS Accident: Self-Induced Pressure & Inadequate Oversight
- That Others May Live – Inadvertent IMC & The Value of Flight Data Monitoring
- Air Ambulance Helicopter Struck Ground During Go-Around after NVIS Inadvertent IMC Entry
- HEMS Air Ambulance Landing Site Slide
- Dusk Duck: Birdstrike During Air Ambulance Flight
- Air Ambulance Night Wirestrike at Poorly Chosen Landing Site
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