NTSB Says Both Chose To Fly Into Dangerous Weather

It's likely that medical helicopter transport will always remain a dark corner in accident statistics. A no-go call on these missions risks a patient death, and the calling of a helicopter usually means time is of the essence. But in two recent probable cause reports, the NTSB notes fatal accidents resulted when pilots took unnecessary weather risks during routine flights home, after their patients had reached the hospital.

In the case of a September 25, 2009 accident in South Carolina, the board determined that a pilot, identified in local media as 45-year-old pilot Patrick Walters, had transported a patient to Charleston Hospital and was returning to his home base in Conway. The patient flight was made in visual conditions, but an advancing storm caused deteriorating weather.

The NTSB report reads, in part, "The Savannah base manager [for Omniflight, the operator] advised the accident pilot that he could stay at the Charleston base that night. However, the accident pilot decided to return to his base at Conway-Horry County Airport (HYW), Conway, South Carolina.

"The pilot had previously flown helicopters in IMC but was not current in instrument ratings at the time of the accident. The accident helicopter was not certificated for flight in IMC but had sufficient instrumentation to operate in the event of an inadvertent encounter with IMC. On the pilot’s last Part 135 airman competency/proficiency check, which occurred on December 12, 2008, he satisfactorily demonstrated inadvertent IMC loss of control recovery."

Walters and two medical personnel died in the crash of the AS-350 (file photo of similar aircraft shown) the board found no evidence of pre-crash mechanical failure.

NTSB noted the helicopter was not equipped with an autopilot. Probable cause was determined to be "The pilot’s decision to continue the visual flight rules flight into an area of instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in the pilot’s spatial disorientation and a loss of control of the helicopter. Contributing to the accident was the inadequate oversight of the flight by Omniflight’s Operational Control Center." The final reported was dated January 19, 2012.

The other case, a March 25, 2010 crash in Tennessee, also involved an AS-350. The Associated Press reports the NTSB said the pilot, 58-year-old Doug Phillips, was finishing a 12-hour night shift and told another pilot he thought he had about 18 minutes to beat a storm moving into the area and return to his home base in Brownsville, TN. He reportedly said he planned to make the flight without two nurses who had been on board for the patient transport, but they returned and boarded before he could depart.

In the narrative portion of its final report, also issued last week, the board write, "The pilot made a risky decision to attempt to outrun the storm in night conditions, which would enable him to return the helicopter to its home base and end his shift there, rather than choosing a safer alternative of parking the helicopter in a secure area and exploring alternate transportation arrangements or waiting for the storm to pass and returning to base after sunrise when conditions improved.

"At the time of the accident, the pilot was nearing the end of his 12-hour duty shift, during which he had flown previous missions and may have had limited opportunities to rest. Further...the accident occurred at an early hour that can be associated with degraded alertness...

The board listed probable cause as, "The pilot’s decision to attempt the flight into approaching adverse weather, resulting in an encounter with a thunderstorm with localized instrument meteorological conditions, heavy rain, and severe turbulence that led to a loss of control."

FMI: SC Accident Report ; TN Accident Report