Contributor - Safety

David Jack Kenny

<h2>Preliminary Reports</h2>
<h3>Three Lost on Positioning Flight</h3>
Eurocopter EC135P2+, March 10, 2025, Canton, Mississippi
The commercial pilot, flight paramedic, and flight nurse were all killed when the medevac helicopter crashed into trees while attempting an emergency landing in a cleared field. The aircraft was returning to base after a fuel stop following a patient transport.
The helicopter departed from the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) MED-COM heliport to the northeast and reported clear of Jackson’s Class C airspace five minutes later, climbing to 2,500 feet. It crossed the Pearl River State Wildlife Management Area, then began to descend. The flight nurse radioed UMMC-MED COM to report: “We’ve got a major problem, we are having an emergency landing in a field right now, ops are not good, controls are giving us a lot of trouble, coming in fast.”
The helicopter struck trees at the edge of a grass field next to the Turcotte Fish Hatchery, igniting a fire that consumed most of the aircraft. A manager at the hatchery heard a loud “boom” through his truck’s closed windows while the helicopter was still descending. No engine sounds were audible thereafter.
<h3>TBM and House Destroyed in Approach Crash</h3>
Socata TBM 700A, March 29, 2025, Brooklyn Park, Minnesota
On a five-mile final approach to the Anoka County/Blaine Airport (KANE), the single--engine turboprop abruptly turned left and made a near-vertical descent into a home, destroying both in the post-crash fire and killing the solo pilot. The person inside the residence escaped without injury.
The flight had originated in Naples, Florida, and refueled at the Des Moines (Iowa) International Airport, taking off again at 11:12. At 12:06, it levelled off at 3,000 feet and subsequently commenced the RNAV approach to Runway 09. The pilot advised the tower controller of his intention to land, read back his landing clearance, and confirmed he had the weather. At 12:20, he began descent from 3,000 feet about six miles from the threshold. One mile later, the airplane’s airspeed and descent rate increased sharply as it entered a left turn. The controller issued a low-altitude warning without response.
A doorbell camera near the site recorded the airplane in a steep nose-down descent, rotating around its longitudinal axis. Tree branches about 100 feet southeast of the main wreckage were severed by “angular cuts consistent with propeller strikes.” Prevailing weather included a 900-foot overcast ceiling with at least 10 miles visibility underneath, a temperature of 3 degrees Celsius and dewpoint of 2 degrees Celsius. An Aviation Weather Center forecast predicted 50% to 60% probability of icing at 3,000 feet in the vicinity.
<h2>Final Reports</h2>
<h3>Antenna Failure, Limited Visibility Cited in Gold Coast Midair</h3>
Eurocopter EC130B4 and Eurocopter EC130B4, Jan. 2, 2023, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
The ATSB found that pre-existing damage to the antenna of one helicopter’s VHF communications radio prevented the pilot’s position report from being transmitted, while the angle of convergence between arriving and departing aircraft made it difficult for the pilot of either one to see the other. Both helicopters were 155 meters (510 feet) west-northwest of the Sea World Helicopters heliport.
The collision separated the main rotor, engine, and tail from the departing aircraft (VH-XKQ), which crashed onto a sandbar. Its pilot and three of its six passengers were killed; the other three suffered serious injuries. VH-XH9, the returning aircraft, was severely damaged but remained controllable, and its pilot succeeded in landing it on the same sandbar. He and two passengers were seriously injured, including by “penetrating fragments” compared to shrapnel, while the other three escaped with minor injuries.
The pilot of VH-XH9 reported having waited for VH-XKQ’s taxi call to indicate its impending departure; not hearing it, he assumed the inbound course was clear. However, the whip antenna for the radio used by VH-XKQ’s pilot failed to transmit in post-accident testing, and analysis of recordings from the common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF) over the previous two days found that only 17 of 65 calls expected from that aircraft were audible; most of those were unreadable.
Physical examination found a cracked solder joint in the circuit board at the antenna’s base and a fractured link wire, both exhibiting degrees of corrosion inconsistent with impact damage. The inbound radio call from VH-XH9 was clearly audible on the CTAF tape, but was apparently either unheard or ignored by the pilot of VH-XKQ.
The operator had relied on “airmanship, communication…and the rules of the air” to manage aircraft separation at the conflict point between the two helipads. In response to the accident, it improved paint and lighting to increase aircraft visibility, established a new position for a “pad boss” to coordinate traffic, and tightened communications protocols to minimize pilot distraction and require a second call during approach.
<h3>Phenom Brought Down by Ice Accumulation Before Takeoff</h3>
Embraer EMB-505, Jan. 2, 2023, Provo, Utah
The 62-year-old airline transport pilot’s failure to have the airplane deiced after it sat out in “snow and misty rain” for 40 minutes allowed ice to build up on the unprotected surfaces of the wings and horizontal stabilizer, causing it to stall after takeoff.
The pilot was killed, two passengers suffered serious injuries, and a third sustained minor injuries when the twin-engine corporate jet pitched up sharply, rolled left, and crashed onto the runway, with the left wing striking the ground first. Prevailing weather included 6 miles of visibility in light snow and mist under an 800-foot overcast, variable winds of 3 knots, and both temperature and dew point of -1 Celsius. An airport worker who’d been clearing snow from the ramp reported that within a few minutes, fresh snow had covered the areas he’d plowed.
The airplane had been kept in a hangar heated to about 60 degrees until 10:55, then was pulled out to be refueled. The lineman recalled seeing “what appeared to be unfrozen water droplets on the wings during the refueling.” The pilot asked the airport manager about deicing and was told to contact the FBO. The FBO’s deicing truck was out of service, so they advised him to call another FBO on the field, but he never contacted the second FBO with that request.
The flight data recording showed that the wing and stabilizer anti-ice was turned on briefly at 11:29, then returned to the “arm” setting. An ice condition test performed at 11:30 confirmed that the ice sensor was functional. The takeoff roll began at 11:35:25, rotation speed was reached at 11:35:48, and the pitch angle increased between 11:35:50 and 11:35:55. As the main landing gear’s weight-on-wheels indication changed from “GND” to “AIR,” the jet rolled left. A stall warning was recorded on the cockpit voice data recorder at 11:35:53.7, just before the recording ended.
<h3>Elevator Cable Failure Leads to Runway Excursion</h3>
Beechjet 400A, Feb. 14, 2024, Bentonville, Arkansas
The twinjet suffered substantial damage during a rejected takeoff from Bentonville Municipal/Louise M. Thaden Field (KVBT) after the pilot lost elevator control due to a failed control cable. The two pilots and five passengers were not injured; two additional passengers sustained minor injuries.
According to the pilot, the airplane lifted off normally before the nose dropped unexpectedly. When he applied additional backpressure to the yoke, he felt a “snap” and realized there was no longer tension in the controls. The airplane pitched down and settled back onto the runway. The pilot applied maximum braking and full thrust reverse, but the aircraft continued off the end of the runway. To avoid a nearby gas station, the pilot turned the airplane left, during which the landing gear collapsed, causing substantial damage to the right wing.
A post-accident examination found that the elevator control cable had fractured near the aft fuselage where it transitioned from horizontal to vertical alignment at a pulley bracket. The metallurgical analysis revealed that nearly all the cable wires had rubbing damage consistent with prolonged contact against the upper guard pin of the pulley assembly.
Investigators determined the cable had been improperly routed during maintenance about a year earlier, causing it to chafe against the pin until eventual failure under normal flight loads. Maintenance records indicated the elevator cables had been replaced on Jan. 31, 2023, with about 316.5 hours flown since that service.
The NTSB determined the probable cause of the accident to be improper rigging of the elevator control cable over the upper guard pin, which led to cable separation and a subsequent loss of elevator control during takeoff.
<h3>Improper Hardware Installation Disables Tail Rotor</h3>
Eurocopter MBB-BK117C-2, March 6, 2024, West Lafayette, Indiana
The helicopter sustained substantial damage during a hard landing after a critical tail rotor control failure. The pilot and two medical crew members aboard were uninjured.
The helicopter, operating as an air ambulance under Part 135, was departing Purdue University Airport (KLAF) at night when the pilot reported feeling a sudden force on the pedals during a hover taxi. The aircraft began an uncommanded right yaw, and left pedal input had no effect. The pilot executed an emergency landing.
Examination revealed that the T-bolt connecting the tail rotor pitch change bellcrank to the pitch change slider had separated in flight. The NTSB found that the T-bolt and its attachment bolts had been removed “at the direction of a lead mechanic to facilitate troubleshooting of adjacent components,” after which maintenance personnel temporarily installed the T-bolt attachment bolts “finger-tight” without torquing or safety wiring them as required.
Maintenance records did not include any entry for the T-bolt’s removal or reinstallation, and no verification of its final installation was performed before the aircraft was returned to service. The NTSB concluded that the lack of documentation contributed to the oversight. One bolt was found on the ramp after the accident, and another had struck the engine bay. The second bolt was found “lodged into a honeycomb panel at the aft-lower area of the fuselage, adjacent to the fuel cell.”&nbsp;
—Amy Wilder contributed to this report

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