NTSB: Bell 525 Suffered Main Blade Strikes
Test flight involved a high-speed run followed by an in-flight break-up

The NTSB is looking at why the main rotor blades struck both the tailboom and the nose during the July 6 in-flight break-up sequence that destroyed Bell 525 FTV1 (flight test vehicle 1) and killed both test pilots. FTV1 was one of three 525 prototypes in the flight-test program, which has been put on indefinite delay in the wake of the accident. Scott Donnelly, chairman of Bell parent company Textron, said last week that the company remains committed to the program.


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