This accident occurred during a flight offered as part of an annual event at Logan County Airport, Logan, West Virginia, that showcased a former military UH-1B helicopter. A volunteer pilot for the event (the pilot-in-command) was in the left front seat, a passenger was in the right front seat, and four other passengers were seated in the cabin. The right front-seat passenger made a required $250 donation to fly the helicopter for 30 minutes, and the other four passengers each made a smaller donation to ride in the helicopter. About 15 minutes after the flight departed, the helicopter impacted two powerlines and a rock face located about 3.5 nautical miles east of the airport during an attempted forced landing. The helicopter came to rest partially inverted on its right side on an asphalt road, and a postcrash fire ensued. The six helicopter occupants were fatally injured, and the helicopter was destroyed.
Postaccident examination of the engine found static damage in the compressor section; rotational damage in the gas-producer turbine; and other damage to the exhaust diffuser, rear bearing cover, the No. 2 bearing, and two power turbine blades. Postaccident examination of the helicopter’s main rotor blades found no evidence indicating a powered impact; thus, a partial or total loss of engine power occurred before impact.
We determined that the probable cause of this accident was the operator’s failure to adequately inspect the former military turbine-powered helicopter, which allowed an engine issue to progress and result in a loss of engine power and a subsequent loss of control after the helicopter struck powerlines during a forced landing.
Also causal to the accident were the following:
- the FAA’s inadequate inspection and maintenance standards for former military turbine-powered aircraft operating with an experimental exhibition airworthiness certificate;
- the operator’s use of those standards instead of more rigorous standards, which were readily available to the operator and previously used to inspect and maintain the helicopter; and
- the FAA’s inadequate oversight of the operator, which did not detect the inherent risk associated with the operation.
As a result of this investigation, we made six new safety recommendations.
To the Federal Aviation Administration:
- Review all experimental exhibition airworthiness certificates issued to turbine-powered rotorcraft and ensure that their operating limitations meet the standards of the latest iteration of Federal Aviation Administration Order 8130.2, Airworthiness Certification of Aircraft. (A-24-20)
- Establish periodic reviews for experimental exhibition airworthiness certificates to ensure that those aircraft are being inspected and maintained according to the latest iteration of Federal Aviation Administration Order 8130.2, Airworthiness Certification of Aircraft. (A-24-21)
- Require operators of aircraft equipped with Ozark Aeroworks T53 series engines to perform recurrent inspections of the rear bearing cover and the exhaust diffuser inner cone and inner struts with the exhaust diffuser cover removed. (A-24-22)
- Remind operators of experimental exhibition aircraft about the requirement to submit, to the appropriate flight standards district office, program letters that list all events at which the aircraft will be exhibited. (A-24-23)
- Develop a method for ensuring that operators of experimental exhibition aircraft meet their annual obligation to submit program letters; such a method could include potential penalties for operators that do not meet this obligation. (A-24-24)
- Revise Federal Aviation Administration Order 8900.1, Flight Standards Information Management System, to include inspector guidance requiring routine surveillance of operators of aircraft with experimental exhibition airworthiness certificates. (A-24-25)
- Define the term “instantaneous wind” and develop guidance for pilots on proper use of an instantaneous wind report in operational decision making. (A-24-26)
We reiterated the following safety recommendations:
To the Federal Aviation Administration:
- Develop national safety standards, or equivalent regulations, for revenue passenger-carrying operations that are currently conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91, including, but not limited to, sightseeing flights conducted in a hot air balloon, intentional parachute jump flights, and living history flight experience and other vintage aircraft flights. These standards, or equivalent regulations, should include, at a minimum for each operation type, requirements for initial and recurrent training and maintenance and management policies and procedures. (A-21-9)
