Investigators Looking At Mechanical Failure, Possible Tail Rotor Strike

Officials have released the identities of the pilot and passenger who escaped serious injury Thursday, when the medevac helicopter they were aboard crashed into a rooftop helipad in Grand Rapids. We're also learning more about the moments leading up to the accident.

The helo was operated by Aero-Med chief pilot Raymond Sampson, 61, accompanied by passenger Willard Elliott, 57. The Detroit Free-Press reports Elliott is an FAA examiner, and the accident flight was a commercial recurrency checkride.

As ANN reported, the Aero-Med Sikorsky S-76 impacted the helipad atop the 11-story Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in downtown Grand Rapids. Patients on the seventh, eighth, and ninth floors were relocated to other floors due to damage from the fire, water runoff, and fuel leakage.

The accident occurred during takeoff, not on landing as was originally reported. After rising between 30 to 50 feet off the roof, the Sikorsky yawed to the right and the pilot attempted to bring the helicopter back down. The main rotor impacted the top of an elevator shaft and the helo fell to the roof.

Sampson and Elliott were able to escape from the wreckage before it burst into flames. The men were rescued by firefighters after clinging to duct work several feet below the helipad to escape the fire. Elliott was treated for minor injuries and released from Butterworth Thursday evening. Sampson remained hospitalized in fair condition Friday after suffering a collapsed lung.

Both men report hearing a "pop" before the chopper began to yaw to the right. Sampson attempted to compensate for the action by pushing the left pedal according to National Transportation Safety Board Investigator Jim Silliman Friday.

Pieces of the main rotor scattered and flew across an adjacent construction site and another nearby medical building.

The flight started at the Aero Med hangar at Gerald R. Ford International Airport shortly before 1100 Thursday. The S-76 made a simulated instrument approach to the hospital helipad, switched to a visual approach a mile out, and landed on the helipad. The helicopter remained there for several minutes as Sampson and Elliot discussed procedures before the departure attempt.

Declining to speculate on the crash's cause, Silliman said he will investigate mechanical failure as a possible cause. "Certainly we have to look at that possibility," he said. "We can't rule that out."

Silliman added he had not yet been able to confirm witness accounts who reported the helicopter's rear rotor hit a radio tower on the roof.

Spectrum Aero Med has taken its remaining helicopters out of service "indefinitely," according to hospital spokesman Bruce Rossman. When it does return to service, the company will have only one helicopter available... as one of the two operated by the company is undergoing renovation in Pennsylvania.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov, www.spectrum-health.org/alert.asp