The retired New Mexico state police chief pilot accused the state’s public safety (DPS) secretary of placing undue pressure on the department to fly ­rescue missions in marginal weather and suggested that this pressure could have contributed to the June 2009 fatal crash of the state’s AgustaWestland A109E. A letter from former pilot Michael Dowd provided to the NTSB stated that “unnecessary pressures from DPS and state police management may have ­contributed to this tragedy.” DPS Secretary John Denko denied the charges.