Hughes A269A May Not Have Been Airworthy

NTSB investigators now think a tail-rotor problem forced a Hughes A269A to crash in Franklin County (NC), killing a deputy last month. But worse, county officials say it's possible the aircraft never should have been flying in the first place.

"There are substantial questions with regard to the airworthiness of the aircraft," said County Attorney Darnell Batton, as reported by WRAL-TV.

As ANN earlier reported, the Hughes A269A went down in the woods near Louisburg (NC) May 21st during a drug interdiction mission, just a month after one of the two men on board donated its services to the sheriff. Deputy Ted Duke Horton, 53, was killed in the crash. Deputy Ben Barrick, whose organization Netstar Air Rescue, Inc., struck a verbal agreement with Sheriff Jerry Jones for use of the aircraft, was injured.

Jones said there was no written agreement on the use of the Netstar helo. Imagine, then, his chagrin, when Batton presented the county commission with a copy of... guess what... the written agreement.

"In the course of this investigation, the existence of an agreement between Netstar and sheriff of Franklin County was discovered which had been signed by Sheriff Jones and Ben T. Barrick, as president," county attorney Darnell Batton was quoted by WRAL as saying.

Another thing: Barrick (right), who was at the controls, is not a certified rotor pilot. While in a public use aircraft, he doesn't have to be. Still, the FAA was concerned enough to issue a statement saying 99-percent of all public use pilots are indeed certificated.

In his report to county commissioners, Batton relayed criticism from Southeastern Helicopters, where the A269A was stored. The report quotes Southeastern President Patrick Cronin, who said, "It may be flyable, but it is not airworthy... all work was done for display purposes only."

"I advised the sheriff of the need for him to seek independent legal counsel," Batton said. In other words, get a lawyer.

Commissioner Harry Foy said he's troubled by inconsistencies in the stories he's heard from both Sheriff Jones and Deputy Barrick -- especially by a promise Barrick supposedly made to the sheriff that the Hughes aircraft was in excellent condition.

"If that's true -- that report -- it's been a lot of cases of bad judgement, bad calls and hopefully, in the future, it will be done different," Foy said.

Barrick was unavailable for comment. He is still on leave with a back injury sustained in the accident. WRAL reports he may never return to the sheriff's department.

FMI: www.aoc.state.nc.us/data/district9/franklininfo.htm#X