Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock)
Copyright 2006 Little Rock Newspapers, Inc.
The probable cause of a Feb. 22, 2005, crash of a helicopter ambulance in western Benton County was pilot error, the National Transportation Safety Board has determined.
The patient being transported died and three crew members were seriously injured after the Air Evac Lifeteam air ambulance tried unsuccessfully to lift off from the yard of a private home.
Witnesses said the Bell 206-L1 chopper rose about 400 feet when it began spinning out of control, slowly at first. It began spinning faster, before plummeting into a hard landing on its belly. The impact crushed the landing gear but the fuselage remained upright.
The NTSB investigation determined Tuesday that examination of the helicopter “revealed no pre-impact mechanical anomalies,” according to the probablecause report on its Web site.
As the pilot first put the craft down on the home’s lawn, about a half-mile south of the auto accident to which it was responding, he was unable to determine wind direction and instead relied on forecast information, the report said.
The agency found the pilot’s “improper decision to maneuver in an environment conducive to a loss of tail rotor effectiveness and his failure to properly execute an autorotation” were to blame. The prevailing crosswind was a contributing factor.
NTSB also noted that when the crew departed from a base at Claremore, Okla., it estimated an arrival time of 20 to 30 minutes. But the crew had trouble finding the site initially, and it took 48 minutes to land.