In a strongly worded statement issued here yesterday, two senior executives from Columbia Helicopters (Booth No. 3707) vociferously denied what they called “unfounded allegations” that the company had tampered with evidence from the fatal crash of a Carson Helicopters Sikorsky S-61N in 2008. They also denied that fuel-control units (FCUs) aboard that aircraft and serviced by Columbia played any role in the crash’s cause.
The 1965 S-61N crashed while lifting off from a 6,000-foot-msl helispot on the Buckhorn Fire in California’s Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Nine of the 13 aboard were killed. The NTSB preliminary report states that the helicopter experienced a loss of power to the main rotor during takeoff initial climb. In the weeks following the crash, NTSB investigators discovered that the records for the crashed Carson S-61 and six others understated their weights and that Carson’s flight manuals contained improperly modified engine performance charts that could lead pilots to believe the helicopters had more available power than they actually did.
