Airbus Helicopters (Eurocopter) · Helicopter
Airbus H130 / EC130
Is the Airbus H130 / EC130 safe? It ranks #3 of 16 helicopters we rate, with 8 fatal accidents counted in about 5.7 million US flights since 2008.
Likely range 58 to 73
How the score is built
- Fatal accidents
- 8 in 5.7 million flights
1.4 fatal accidents per million flights. Counted: all civil flights in the United States since 2008 (private, charter, air ambulance, utility, training and other), accidents and unexplained losses; not counted: accidents outside the United States or before 2008, military, test and illegal flights, sabotage, hijackings, shoot-downs and deliberate crew acts.
- Full-loss equivalents
- 5.3
Each counted accident adds the share of people on board who died (1 = no survivors). This is what the score is based on.
- Flights flown
- 5.7 million
Estimated flights of all kinds in the United States since 2008. Flights of all kinds in the United States (private, training, charter and other civil use) 2008 to 3 November 2026, each counted from take-off to final landing: the hours of all US single-engine turbine helicopters in each year (active aircraft and hours from the FAA General Aviation and Part 135 Activity Survey), split between types by US-registered aircraft (FAA register, 258 of this type in 2024) times how much each type flies against its class (1.69, mostly from airframe hours in NTSB accident records, partly from hours per aircraft seen by ADS-B receivers in 2019-2022, then matched to the FAA's own hours for this model in 2008-2021), at 0.41 hours per flight from ADS-B tracks: about 1,310 flights per registered aircraft per year in 2024. Flights and accidents outside the United States, or before 2008, are not used. Against the FAA's hours per helicopter model, this method is off by about 22% on a typical type. Uncertainty roughly ±20%.
- Technology generation
- Single-engine turbine helicopter
Small fleets are pulled toward the record of the other types of their generation: 4.1 full-loss equivalents per million flights over 33.8 million flights. Weight of this family's own record: 91%.
- Likely range
- 58 to 73
The score is 90% likely to lie in this range, given how few accidents a type has and the error in the estimate of its flights.
- Last fatal accident
- 8 November 2025
Air ambulance, Lebanon, TN, United States of America: 1 of 3 people on board died.
- Aircraft destroyed
- 3
Aircraft the NTSB coded as destroyed in an accident in the United States since 2008, fatal or not, from all causes. The NTSB codes many wrecks as only substantially damaged, so the real number is higher (context only, not in the score).
Compared with everyday risks
One flight on the Airbus H130 / EC130 carries about the same risk of death as the activities near it below.
- An hour's walk1 in 14 million
- Driving 100 miles (160 km)1 in 5.9 million
- An ordinary day: accidents and violence1 in 1 million
- A day of skiing1 in 830,000
- One flight on the Airbus H130 / EC130This aircraft1 in 820,000
- A scuba dive1 in 500,000
- Cycling 100 miles (160 km)1 in 430,000
- Running a marathon1 in 290,000
- A skydive1 in 250,000
- A general anaesthetic1 in 100,000
- Riding a motorbike 100 miles (160 km)1 in 83,000
Accident history
8 fatal accidents in the United States since 2008 count toward the score, with 22 people on board killed.
| Date | Flight | Killed | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air ambulanceEurocopter EC130 T2 · Lebanon, TN, United States of America | 1 killed / 3 on board | After a cancelled air medical launch near Lebanon, Tennessee, the crew radioed a medical emergency with the pilot; the Vanderbilt LifeFlight H130 then crashed. The flight nurse died, the pilot and paramedic were badly hurt. The investigation has not published a cause.Cause not yet established; counted.Type: OtherNTSB docket | |
| Reach Air Medical Services LLCEurocopter EC130 T2 · Sacramento, CA, United States of America | 1 killed / 3 on board | Just after leaving the UC Davis hospital rooftop helipad in Sacramento, the Reach Air Medical H130 lost power and autorotated onto US Route 50, landing on its side. The flight nurse died four days later. The investigation has not published a cause.Cause not yet established; counted.Type: Engine failureNTSB docket | |
| Orbic Air LLCEurocopter EC130 · Halloran Springs, CA, United States of America | 6 killed / 6 on board | On a night Part 135 charter from Palm Springs toward Boulder City with four passengers, the pilots flew on into cloud near Halloran Springs, California; the pilot became disoriented and lost control, and all six died. The radar altimeter was known to be broken.Type: Loss of control in flightNTSB docket | |
| Air Methods CorpEurocopter EC130 T2 · Chelsea, AL, United States of America | 2 killed / 3 on board | Maneuvering near a road at Chelsea, Alabama, on an air ambulance flight, the pilot of the Air Methods EC130T2 was slow to correct, and it pitched nose down onto the road. The pilot and flight nurse died. He had taken several sedating drugs.Type: Loss of control in flightNTSB docket | |
| PrivateEurocopter EC130 · Knoxville, TN, United States of America | 1 killed / 4 on board | Landing at his riverside home in Knoxville, Tennessee, the pilot descended steeply and slowly with a tailwind; the EC130 entered vortex ring state and hit the river. One of three passengers drowned.Type: Loss of control in flightNTSB docket | |
| Papillon Airways, Inc.Eurocopter EC130 · Peach Springs, AZ, United States of America | 5 killed / 7 on board | Landing a Papillon air tour at the Quartermaster site in the Grand Canyon in a gusting tailwind, the EC130 lost tail rotor effectiveness, spun and hit the ground and burned. Five of the six passengers died; the pilot was badly hurt.Type: Loss of control in flightNTSB docket | |
| ArchEurocopter EC-130-B4 · ST Louis, MO, United States of America | 1 killed / 1 on board | Returning alone to a St. Louis hospital rooftop helipad to collect two medical crew in strong tailwind gusts, the Air Methods EC130 settled with power and lost control; it hit the building and fell into the parking lot. The pilot died.Type: Loss of control in flightNTSB docket | |
| Blue Hawaiian HelicoptersEurocopter EC130 B4 · Pukoo, HI, United States of America | 5 killed / 5 on board | On a Blue Hawaiian air tour from Maui to Molokai in rain squalls and low cloud, the EC130 flew too close to a ridge near Pukoo; its tail struck the ground, the fenestron came off and it crashed. All five on board died.Type: Flight into terrainNTSB docket |
The H130 has too short a record for a firm verdict. Only eight fatal accidents in the United States since 2008 count toward its score, up to 28 October 2026, with 22 deaths, and the type has flown less than half as many US flights as the Bell 206 and about 60% as many as the AStar. On what there is, it has the best record per flight of the single-engine turbine helicopters we rate.
Why tour operators like it
Eurocopter developed the EC130 in the late 1990s from the AS350 AStar. It kept the single Arriel turbine and three-blade rotor, but added a much wider cabin with big windows and seats for a pilot and up to seven passengers, and replaced the open tail rotor with a fenestron, a many-bladed fan inside a ring in the tail fin. The current version is the H130. In the records, Blue Hawaiian and Papillon fly them on tours in Hawaii and over the Grand Canyon, and Air Methods and other programs use them as air ambulances. The US register tripled, from 91 in 2008 to 273 in 2026 in our count.
How few accidents shape the score
We score helicopters on fatal accidents in the United States since 2008, from the NTSB database, and on US flights estimated from the FAA register and the FAA General Aviation survey: about 5.7 million for the H130, a flight being take-off to final landing. Accidents off the US coast, the Gulf of Mexico included, count; accidents in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are left out. Each type's share of its class's flights follows its registered aircraft and how much that type flies, mostly from airframe hours in NTSB accident records and partly from hours per aircraft seen by ADS-B receivers from 2019 to 2022. For H130s that is then matched to the FAA's own hours for the model (FAA Table MM.1, 2008 to 2021). They made about three times as many flights per aircraft as the average single-engine turbine helicopter, as busy tour fleets do, and much of that rests on the short flights ADS-B shows, about 0.41 hours each; if the real flights are longer, the H130 looks better than it is. With eight accidents, one more would move the score noticeably.
Like every helicopter, it scores far below airliners. Among single-engine types it sits ahead of the Airbus H125, the Bell 407 and the Bell 206. Among all the helicopters we rank it comes third, behind the H145 and H135, just ahead of the Sikorsky S-76 and a little further ahead of the AS355 and the Bell 429; the likely ranges overlap, so that small lead is uncertain. See the method and the helicopter ranking.
What the eight accidents show
Four were air ambulance flights, two tours, one a night charter and one a private flight. Five were losses of control, and three of those began with a tailwind close to the ground. At a St. Louis hospital rooftop on 6 March 2015, gusts from behind made the helicopter settle as the pilot came in to land. At the Quartermaster landing site in the Grand Canyon on 10 February 2018, a Papillon tour lost tail rotor effectiveness in a gusting tailwind, spun and burned; five of the six passengers died. At Knoxville, Tennessee, on 3 August 2020, a private pilot descended steeply and slowly with the wind behind him into vortex ring state.
The other tour accident came on 10 November 2011, when a Blue Hawaiian EC130 flying in rain squalls and low cloud struck a ridge on Molokai; all five died. On 9 February 2024, a night charter from Palm Springs flew into cloud near Halloran Springs, California, with a radar altimeter known to be broken, and all six died.
Two air ambulance accidents in late 2025 are still open: a power loss after take-off from a Sacramento hospital on 6 October, and a crash near Lebanon, Tennessee, on 8 November, after the crew reported a medical emergency with the pilot.
Choosing a Grand Canyon or Hawaii tour
- Check that the operator holds a Part 135 certificate, and look up the helicopter's N-number in the NTSB CAROL database.
- Expect to give your weight; seats are assigned for balance, and an honest figure matters.
- If the operator delays or cancels for wind or cloud, accept it. Both fatal H130 tour accidents happened in poor weather or gusty wind.
- Listen to the briefing on how your belt opens and where the exits are, and keep loose items stowed.
How to tell if you are on one
Flight trackers show EC30. Look for the ring around the tail rotor and the wide, rounded cabin; the H125 has an open tail rotor and a narrower body.
Questions people ask
Is the EC130 a safe helicopter?
On the US record since 2008 it has the best record per flight of the single-engine turbine helicopters we rate, ahead of the Bell 206, the Bell 407 and the AStar it was developed from. Eight fatal accidents are few, though, and its flight count rests on how much its tour and air ambulance fleets fly, so confidence is low.
Is it safe to take a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon?
Most tours fly without incident, but a helicopter flight carries far more risk than an airline flight. The one fatal H130 tour accident in the canyon in our data came on 10 February 2018, when a Papillon EC130 lost tail rotor control landing in a gusting tailwind; five passengers died. Choose an operator with a Part 135 certificate and do not push it to fly in strong wind.
How many EC130 and H130 crashes have there been in the United States?
Up to 28 October 2026, eight fatal accidents in the United States since 2008 count toward our score, with 22 deaths. Four were air ambulance flights, two air tours, one a night charter and one a private flight.
What is the difference between the H130 and the H125?
The H130, first called the EC130, was developed from the AS350 AStar (now the H125). It has a wider cabin with more seats and a tail rotor enclosed in a ring in the fin, called a fenestron. Both have one turbine engine.
Sources
- 1.NTSB docket: Eurocopter EC130 B4, Pukoo, Hawaii, 10 November 2011 (opens in a new tab) · National Transportation Safety Board
- 2.NTSB docket: Eurocopter EC130, Peach Springs, Arizona, 10 February 2018 (opens in a new tab) · National Transportation Safety Board
- 3.NTSB docket: Eurocopter EC-130-B4, ST Louis, Missouri, 6 March 2015 (opens in a new tab) · National Transportation Safety Board
- 4.NTSB docket: Eurocopter EC130, Knoxville, Tennessee, 3 August 2020 (opens in a new tab) · National Transportation Safety Board
- 5.NTSB docket: Eurocopter EC130, Halloran Springs, California, 9 February 2024 (opens in a new tab) · National Transportation Safety Board
- 6.NTSB docket: Eurocopter EC130 T2, Sacramento, California, 6 October 2025 (opens in a new tab) · National Transportation Safety Board
- 7.NTSB docket: Eurocopter EC130 T2, Lebanon, Tennessee, 8 November 2025 (opens in a new tab) · National Transportation Safety Board
- 8.SafetyScorer exposure model: FAA aircraft register, FAA General Aviation and Part 135 Activity Survey, OpenSky ADS-B, NTSB airframe hours (opens in a new tab)Flights of all kinds in the United States (private, training, charter and other civil use) 2008 to 3 November 2026, each counted from take-off to final landing: the hours of all US single-engine turbine helicopters in each year (active aircraft and hours from the FAA General Aviation and Part 135 Activity Survey), split between types by US-registered aircraft (FAA register, 258 of this type in 2024) times how much each type flies against its class (1.69, mostly from airframe hours in NTSB accident records, partly from hours per aircraft seen by ADS-B receivers in 2019-2022, then matched to the FAA's own hours for this model in 2008-2021), at 0.41 hours per flight from ADS-B tracks: about 1,310 flights per registered aircraft per year in 2024. Flights and accidents outside the United States, or before 2008, are not used. Against the FAA's hours per helicopter model, this method is off by about 22% on a typical type. Uncertainty roughly ±20%.