Several established federal criminal investigations are under way into the events surrounding the August 2008 helispot takeoff crash of a Carson Helicopters Sikorsky S-61N operating under contract to the U.S. Forest Service that killed nine near Weaverville, Calif. The pilot, a U.S. Forest Service check airman, and seven firefighters were killed; the copilot and three firefighters survived.
Last month the NTSB found that the crash's probable cause was Carson's intentional understatement of the helicopter's empty weight; alteration of the power-available chart to exaggerate the helicopter's lift capability; practice of using unapproved, above-minimum specification torque in performance calculations that, collectively, resulted in the pilots' relying on performance calculations that significantly overestimated the helicopter's load-carrying capacity and did not provide an adequate performance margin for a successful takeoff; and insufficient oversight by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the FAA.
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