Bell Textron · Helicopter
Bell 407
Is the Bell 407 safe? It ranks #8 of 16 helicopters we rate, with 25 fatal accidents counted in about 8.1 million US flights since 2008.
Likely range 51 to 61
How the score is built
- Fatal accidents
- 25 in 8.1 million flights
3.1 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
- 22.7
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
- 8.1 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, 836 of this type in 2024) times how much each type flies against its class (1.10, 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 0.59 hours per flight from ADS-B tracks: about 575 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: 3.9 full-loss equivalents per million flights over 31.4 million flights. Weight of this family's own record: 93%.
- Likely range
- 51 to 61
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
- 15 October 2026
Manatee County Mosquito Control District, Myakka City, FL, United States of America: 1 of 1 people on board died.
- Aircraft destroyed
- 16
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 Bell 407 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
- A scuba dive1 in 500,000
- Cycling 100 miles (160 km)1 in 430,000
- One flight on the Bell 407This aircraft1 in 350,000
- 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
25 fatal accidents in the United States since 2008 count toward the score, with 54 people on board killed.
| Date | Flight | Killed | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manatee County Mosquito Control DistrictBell 407 · Myakka City, FL, United States of America | 1 killed / 1 on board | Spraying for mosquito control near Myakka City, Florida, the Manatee County Bell 407 struck a 150 ft antenna and crashed; the pilot died. The investigation has not published a cause.Cause not yet established; counted.Type: Flight into terrainNTSB docket | |
| State OF Arizona Department OF Public SafetyBell 407 · Flagstaff, AZ, United States of America | 2 killed / 2 on board | Supporting police at an active shooter scene in Flagstaff, Arizona, at night, the state public safety Bell 407 crashed after turning to clear another helicopter; the pilot and tactical flight officer died. The investigation has not published a cause.Cause not yet established; counted.Type: Unknown causeNTSB docket | |
| Jbi HelicoptersBell 407 · Croydon, NH, United States of America | 1 killed / 1 on board | Leaving an off-airport site at Croydon, New Hampshire, on a dark positioning flight, the pilot said it was too dark, became disoriented and ignored attitude warnings; the Bell 407 banked steeply into trees and he died.Type: Loss of control in flightNTSB docket | |
| Air Shasta Rotor & Wing Inc.Bell 407 · Cabazon, CA, United States of America | 3 killed / 3 on board | Heading to a wildfire near Cabazon, California, as a coordination platform, the Bell 407 was hit by a Skycrane helitanker that entered the fire traffic area far above its cleared altitude and dived; all three on the Bell died.Type: Mid-air collisionNTSB docket | |
| PrivateBell 407 · Nuevo, CA, United States of America | 2 killed / 2 on board | Flying low over rough hills near Nuevo, California, on a personal flight, the pilot banked steeply past a rocky hilltop and the Bell 407GXP's main rotor hit the ground; both pilots on board died.Type: Flight into terrainNTSB docket | |
| Rotorcraft Leasing Company, LLCBell 407 · Galliano, LA, United States of America | 4 killed / 4 on board | Lifting off an offshore platform helideck on a Part 135 passenger flight, the Bell 407's right skid caught a perimeter light; it rolled over onto the deck and fell into the Gulf of Mexico. All four died. The pilot had landed off the deck's centre.Type: Loss of control in flightNTSB docket | |
| Westwind Helicopters IncBell 407 · Morgan City, LA, United States of America | 1 killed / 3 on board | Returning to base with two passengers after an offshore air taxi flight, the Westwind Bell 407 pilot said he felt unwell and slumped over at 1,500 ft; a passenger tried to fly it but it hit the Gulf of Mexico. The pilot died; both passengers lived.Type: OtherNTSB docket | |
| Rotorcraft Leasing Company, LLCBell 407 · Houma, LA, United States of America | 2 killed / 2 on board | Flying a passenger on a Part 135 on-demand flight near Houma, Louisiana, the pilot suddenly lost consciousness, as cockpit video showed; the Bell 407 went out of control and hit the ground. Both died. The NTSB could not tell why he passed out.Cause not yet established; counted.Type: OtherNTSB docket | |
| RC Smith Aviation LLCBell 407 · Laplace, LA, United States of America | 1 killed / 1 on board | Flying from Gonzales toward New Orleans Lakefront in low cloud, fog and mist, with no weather briefing, the pilot stayed under 175 ft; the Bell 407 hit a guy wire between power line towers near LaPlace, Louisiana, fell on a highway and burned. He died.Type: Flight into terrainNTSB docket | |
| Survival Flight, LLCBell 407 · Headland, AL, United States of America | 1 killed / 3 on board | Landing at Headland, Alabama, on an EMS flight, the Survival Flight Bell 407 rolled onto its side when the pilot was stricken by a heart attack; he died. The flight nurse and paramedic were not hurt.Type: OtherNTSB docket | |
| Panther Helicopters IncBell 407 · Gulf of Mexico | 2 killed / 2 on board | Flying between two oil platforms off Southwest Pass, Louisiana, the Panther Bell 407 lost engine power when bearings and a gear in the power turbine failed; rotor speed fell, it hit the sea and sank. Both on board died.Type: Engine failureNTSB docket | |
| Bristow US LLCBell 407 · Galliano, LA, United States of America | 2 killed / 2 on board | Taking a passenger to an offshore platform under a 700 ft ceiling, the Bristow Bell 407 pilot became disoriented over water near Galliano, Louisiana, and turned down into a marsh; both on board died.Type: Loss of control in flightNTSB docket | |
| Survival Flight IncBell 407 · Zaleski, OH, United States of America | 3 killed / 3 on board | Sent through snow showers to collect a patient after two other operators turned the job down, the Survival Flight Bell 407 hit forested ground near Zaleski, Ohio; all three died. The operator had let weather risk checks slide.Type: Flight into terrainNTSB docket | |
| Air MethodsBell 407 · Stuttgart, AR, United States of America | 3 killed / 3 on board | Flying at night on night vision goggles to collect a patient near DeWitt, Arkansas, the Air Methods Bell 407 hit snow geese and lost control; it struck a reservoir bank and burned. All three on board died.Type: Bird strikeNTSB docket | |
| Virginia State PoliceBell 407 · Charlottesville, VA, United States of America | 2 killed / 2 on board | Watching over a motorcade during the protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, the state police Bell 407 entered vortex ring state, spun right and dropped into trees; the pilot and observer died. He had no recent training in recovering from it.Type: Loss of control in flightNTSB docket | |
| Westwind HelicoptersBell 407 · Chauvin, LA, United States of America | 1 killed / 1 on board | Repositioning alone from an offshore platform to Houma, Louisiana, in good weather, the pilot let the Bell 407 descend gradually into a marsh in Timbalier Bay; he died. The helicopter worked normally, and the NTSB could not find why he missed the descent.Cause not yet established; counted.Type: Flight into terrainNTSB docket | |
| PrivateBell 407 · Hickory, KY, United States of America | 1 killed / 1 on board | Approaching a landing zone near Hickory, Kentucky, to pick up a crew member, the Tennessee Valley Authority Bell 407 lost collective control at 100 ft and fell on its side; the pilot died. Safety wires had been removed in maintenance and not refitted.Type: System failureNTSB docket | |
| SkylifeBell 407 · Mcfarland, CA, United States of America | 4 killed / 4 on board | Flying a patient from Porterville to Bakersfield, California, at night, the SkyLife Bell 407 met fog and the pilot lost control while reversing course; all four died. He had little recent night experience.Type: Loss of control in flightNTSB docket | |
| Mercy AirBell 407 · Clear Lake, IA, United States of America | 3 killed / 3 on board | Positioning at night from Mason City toward Emmetsburg, Iowa, in mist and drizzle, the Mercy Air Bell 407 likely met local icing; it climbed, then descended out of control near Clear Lake. All three on board died.Type: IcingNTSB docket | |
| Acs Helicopters LLCBell 407 · Coolbaugh Township, PA, United States of America | 2 killed / 3 on board | Flying passengers from Elmira, New York, toward White Plains at night, the pilot carried on into fog and rain instead of turning back or landing; flying low at 30 knots, the Bell 407 hit trees in Coolbaugh Township, Pennsylvania. Two of three died.Type: Flight into terrainNTSB docket | |
| K-va-t & W-l Aviation LLCBell 407 · Abingdon, VA, United States of America | 1 killed / 1 on board | After dropping passengers home from a race track by South Holston Lake, Virginia, the pilot took off alone over the dark lake without lights; the Bell 407 descended into the water and he died. He was likely disoriented by the acceleration.Type: Flight into terrainNTSB docket | |
| Teton County Sheriffs OfficeBell 407 · Moran Junction, WY, United States of America | 1 killed / 3 on board | Hovering at high density altitude to wait for snowmobilers leading it to an accident near Moran Junction, Wyoming, the sheriff's search and rescue Bell 407 began to spin and fell into trees. One of the two rescuers on board died.Type: Loss of control in flightNTSB docket | |
| Air Methods Corp.Bell 407 · Flagstaff, AZ, United States of America | 3 killed / 3 on board | Arriving at the Flagstaff Medical Center helipad, Arizona, with a patient and off its trained route, the Bell 407 collided with another EMS Bell 407 (N407MJ). Neither pilot saw the other; all three on board died, and four on the other helicopter.Type: Mid-air collisionNTSB docket | |
| Classic Helicopter LifeguardBell 407 · Flagstaff, AZ, United States of America | 4 killed / 4 on board | Approaching the Flagstaff Medical Center helipad, Arizona, with a patient, the Bell 407 collided with another EMS Bell 407 (N407GA) arriving at the same time. Neither pilot saw the other; all four on this helicopter died, and three on the other.Type: Mid-air collisionNTSB docket | |
| Air ambulanceBell 407 · Huntsville, TX, United States of America | 4 killed / 4 on board | On a night EMS flight from Huntsville, Texas, into low cloud that had made another operator turn the job down, the pilot did not notice or stop a descent; the Bell 407 hit trees in a dark forest and all four on board died.Type: Flight into terrainNTSB docket |
Listed but not counted
These events happened on military, test or illegal flights, or were caused by a crime or a deliberate act, which says little about the aircraft design.
| Date | Flight | Killed | Why not counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bristow Us, Llc.Bell 407 · Intracoastal City, LA, United States of America | 1 killed / 1 on board | Test flight. Flying a local post-maintenance check flight from Intracoastal City, Louisiana, in fog and low cloud, the pilot lost control after entering cloud; the Bell 407 dived in a left turn into trees and he died.Type: Loss of control in flightNTSB docket |
Most fatal Bell 407 accidents in the United States happened on the jobs it is bought for: air ambulance runs, police work and flights for the offshore oil industry, often at night or under low cloud. Up to 28 October 2026, 25 fatal accidents since 2008 count toward its score, with 54 deaths, and its record per flight sits close to the Airbus H125 and the Bell 206.
What is the Bell 407?
Bell built the 407 in the mid-1990s as a successor to the 206L LongRanger, with a four-blade main rotor, a wider cabin and a more powerful Rolls-Royce 250 turbine. Unlike the 206, its US fleet has grown: 874 were registered in 2026 in our count, against 422 in 2008. It still has one engine, so an engine failure means an autorotation. In December 2019 the power turbine of a 407 failed between two oil platforms off Southwest Pass, Louisiana, and both on board died in the sea.
How we score it
Helicopters are scored on fatal accidents in the United States since 2008, from the NTSB database, and on about 8.1 million US flights, from take-off to final landing, estimated from the FAA register and the FAA General Aviation survey. Offshore flights in the Gulf of Mexico 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 407s that is then matched to the FAA's own hours for the model (FAA Table MM.1, 2008 to 2021): they made about 30% more flights per aircraft than the average single-engine turbine helicopter.
Every helicopter scores far lower than an airliner, because each flight carries more risk. The 407 sits behind the Airbus H130 and the twin-engine types, just ahead of the Airbus H125 and a little further ahead of the Bell 206; the likely ranges of the three overlap, so those small gaps are uncertain. See the method and the helicopter ranking.
Air ambulance flights
Of the 25, 18 were work, public-use and private flights, 5 passenger flights and 2 positioning flights. Eight were air ambulance flights, with 25 deaths. The worst came on 29 June 2008, when two 407s flying patients to Flagstaff Medical Center, Arizona, collided near the helipad; neither pilot saw the other and all seven on board died.
Twice the weather was bad enough that another operator had already turned the job down: near Huntsville, Texas, on 8 June 2008, and near Zaleski, Ohio, on 29 January 2019. In the Ohio crash, the NTSB found that the operator had let its weather risk checks slide.
Gulf Coast and police work
Six accidents, with 12 deaths, were flights for the offshore oil and gas industry in south Louisiana, the December 2019 power turbine failure among them. Two of them followed a pilot losing consciousness: near Houma on 14 January 2022, as cockpit video showed, and over the Gulf near Morgan City on 26 October 2022, where a passenger tried to fly the helicopter. A third pilot was stricken by a heart attack while landing an air ambulance at Headland, Alabama, in 2019. All three were single-pilot flights. On 29 December 2022, a 407 caught a skid on a light while lifting off the West Delta 106 platform and fell into the sea, killing all four.
Near Charlottesville, Virginia, on 12 August 2017, a state police 407 watching a motorcade entered vortex ring state and fell into trees. On 4 February 2026, an Arizona Department of Public Safety 407 crashed at night at Flagstaff; no cause is published yet.
What you can do
- If a relative needs an air ambulance and is stable, ask the doctor whether a ground ambulance would do. If the helicopter is needed, take it: the decision is a medical one.
- Air medical crews: ask whether your program shares information about flights other operators have turned down for weather.
- Offshore workers: take the underwater escape training seriously and wear the immersion suit and life jacket you are given.
- For a charter, confirm that the operator holds a Part 135 certificate and look up the helicopter's N-number in the NTSB CAROL database.
How to tell if you are on one
Flight trackers show B407. It looks like a LongRanger with four main rotor blades instead of two.
Questions people ask
Is the Bell 407 a safe helicopter?
For a single-engine helicopter, its US record per flight since 2008 is a little better than its class average, behind the Airbus H130, just ahead of the Airbus H125 and a little further ahead of the Bell 206. Few official findings point to the design; most accidents came from night flying, low cloud, collisions and pilot incapacitation on demanding work flights.
How many Bell 407 crashes have there been in the United States?
Up to 28 October 2026, 25 fatal accidents in the United States since 2008 count toward our score, with 54 deaths. One test flight near Intracoastal City, Louisiana, in 2012 is listed but not counted.
Does the Bell 407 have one engine?
Yes, one Rolls-Royce 250 turbine. If it stops, the pilot must autorotate, which over water or at low height leaves little margin.
Are air ambulance helicopters safe?
They carry more risk per flight than an airliner, and the risk falls mostly on night and bad-weather flights. In our 407 data, 8 of the 25 counted accidents were air ambulance flights, including a mid-air collision of two 407s at Flagstaff, Arizona, in 2008.
Sources
- 1.NTSB docket: Bell 407, Flagstaff, Arizona, 29 June 2008 (opens in a new tab) · National Transportation Safety Board
- 2.NTSB docket: Bell 407, Huntsville, Texas, 8 June 2008 (opens in a new tab) · National Transportation Safety Board
- 3.NTSB docket: Bell 407, Zaleski, Ohio, 29 January 2019 (opens in a new tab) · National Transportation Safety Board
- 4.NTSB docket: Bell 407, Houma, Louisiana, 14 January 2022 (opens in a new tab) · National Transportation Safety Board
- 5.NTSB docket: Bell 407, Morgan City, Louisiana, 26 October 2022 (opens in a new tab) · National Transportation Safety Board
- 6.NTSB docket: Bell 407, Galliano, Louisiana, 29 December 2022 (opens in a new tab) · National Transportation Safety Board
- 7.NTSB docket: Bell 407, Charlottesville, Virginia, 12 August 2017 (opens in a new tab) · National Transportation Safety Board
- 8.NTSB docket: Bell 407, Flagstaff, Arizona, 4 February 2026 (opens in a new tab) · National Transportation Safety Board
- 9.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, 836 of this type in 2024) times how much each type flies against its class (1.10, 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 0.59 hours per flight from ADS-B tracks: about 575 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%.