Crash Injured Pilot, Killed Deputy

When a Hughes H-269A-1 went down in the woods near Louisburg (NC) a week ago, records show 33-year old Benjamin T. Barrick was at the controls. There's just one problem, according to the FAA: Barrick had no rating.

The crash killed 53-year old Ted Horton. Like Barrick, Horton was a deputy at the Franklin County Sheriff's Office in North Carolina.

FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said you don't have to have a rating to fly public-use aircraft like the Franklin County Sheriff's helicopter involved in Friday's crash. Still, she said, "99 percent of all public use operators do have pilots' certificates."

The Sheriff's Office said Barrick had been flying the H-269 on law enforcement missions for about two months. The aircraft is registered to Barrick's non-profit organization, Netstar Air Rescue. After learning that Barrick had no pilot certificate, Sheriff Jerry Jones said, "I feel even worse since the funeral... I'm thinking I've been betrayed."

Jones said Barrick and Horton were following up on a drug investigation when then aircraft, which has a military designation of TH-55, went down.

FAA Preliminary Accident Report

IDENTIFICATION
 Regis#: 115ES    Make/Model: H269   Description: 269, 200, 280, 300, TH-300, SKY KNIGHT (
 Date: 05/14/2004   Time: 1910

 Event Type: Accident  Highest Injury: Fatal   Mid Air: N  Missing: N
 Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
 City: LOUISBURG          State: NC  Country: US

DESCRIPTION
 FRANKLIN COUNTY SHERIFF, N115ES, HUGHES 269A-1 ROTORCRAFT, A PUBLIC USE
 AIRCRAFT, CRASHED IN THE WOODS UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, THERE WERE TWO
 PERSONS ON BOARD, ONE WAS FATALLY INJURED AND THE SECOND RECEIVED UNKNOWN
 INJURIES, THE ROTORCRAFT WAS DESTROYED, LOUISBURG, NC

INJURY DATA   Total Fatal:  1
         # Crew:  2   Fat:  1   Ser:  1   Min:  0   Unk: 
         # Pass:   0   Fat:  0   Ser:  0   Min:  0   Unk: 
         # Grnd:       Fat:  0   Ser:  0   Min:  0   Unk: 

WEATHER: KLHZ 141838Z AUTO 21004KT 10SM SCT046 28/15 A3025             
                                          
                            

OTHER DATA
 Activity: Business   Phase: Unknown   Operation: Public

 Departed: UNK             Dep Date:  Dep. Time:  
 Destination: UNK           Flt Plan: UNK     Wx Briefing: U
 Last Radio Cont: UNK
 Last Clearance: UNK

 FAA FSDO: WINSTON-SALEM, NC (SO05)       Entry date: 05/17/2004

FMI: www.ntsb.gov