A penguin which was being transported in the cabin of a Robinson R44 Raven II (registration ZS-RJC) has been, indirectly, blamed for the helicopter’s crash in South Africa, on January 19, 2025.
According to a report issued on April 5, 2025, by the South African civil aviation authority (SACAA), the helicopter went down due to an unsecured carboard box, in the penguin was being transported, sliding on the cyclic pitch control lever and causing an unexpected roll to the right from which the helicopter could not recover.
The accident occurred on Bird Island, a barren, uninhabited islet off the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
The helicopter had flown to Bird Island with a specialist onboard with the intention of conducting an aerial survey. It was this same specialist who, upon landing on the island, requested that a penguin be transported to Chief Dawid Stuurman Aerodrome, near Port Elizabeth, on the mainland.
With this aim, the penguin was placed in a box which was held by the specialist on its lap while sitting on the left side seat in the cabin. As the SACAA report notes, the pilot failed to conduct a proper risk assessment, with the result that the box interfered with the helicopter’s controls when the rotorcraft was 15 meters off the ground during the takeoff stage of the flight.
While the helicopter was seriously damaged, neither its human occupants nor the penguin were harmed.
