Four Were Fatally Injured, State Blames ATC

Maryland officials have filed suit against the federal government over an accident involving a state police helicopter in which four people were fatally injured.

In its probable cause report, the NTSB said that ATC was a "contributor" to the accident. The report said the cause of the accident was "(t)he pilot's attempt to regain visual conditions by performing a rapid descent and his failure to arrest the descent at the minimum descent altitude during a nonprecision approach. Contributing to the accident were (1) the pilot’s limited recent instrument flight experience, (2) the lack of adherence to effective risk management procedures by the Maryland State Police, (3) the pilot’s inadequate assessment of the weather, which led to his decision to accept the flight,, (4) the failure of the Potomac Consolidated Terminal Radar Approach Control (PCT) controller to provide the current Andrews Air Force Base weather observation to the pilot, and (5) the increased workload on the pilot due to inadequate Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control handling by the Ronald Reagan National Airport Tower and PCT controllers."

The NTSB findings are not admissible as evidence in court.

The Washington Post reports that the lawsuit holds that the controllers did not provide adequate weather information, as is cited in the NTSB report. A similar lawsuit filed by the only survivor of the accident is seeking $50 million in damages.

FMI: www.maryland.gov