NTSB Says Skid Caught Fence And Rolled

The National Transportation Safety Board said a helicopter that went down while herding wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota snagged a fence, in its initial report on the incident, said the Associated Press.

"The pilot reported trying to counteract the roll... but was unsuccessful," according to the report. The Bell 206 (file photo, below) helicopter was herding horses when its left landing skid caught the top of a 10-foot-high wire fence.

The pilot, Ted McBride, of El Aero Services of Elko, Nev., and park wildlife biologist Mike Oehler were treated for minor injuries at a Dickinson hospital and released. The horse roundup was called off.

McBride--certified through the Interior Department to do contract work for the National Park Service--said he had been flying for the company for 35 years and before last month had never crashed.

Witnesses to the helicopter incident matched details in the NTSB report. People at the scene of the October 18 roundup said the helicopter was hovering a few feet off the ground between two fences, trying to herd a group of horses into an inner corral, when a landing skid hit something, the helicopter pitched and rolled into the ground.

The 206 came to rest on its left side outside the corral fence. Parts of its rotor broke off and flew into the corral, but no one there--horse or human--was hurt. The report says the chopper's main rotor blades were destroyed, and that both the main transmission deck and tailboom separated from the fuselage.

Interior Department investigators also examined what happened and sent their report to the NTSB, who said they are leaving the probable cause determination of the helicopter issue up to them-- they were only focusing on National Park Service issues.

"Are we doing things the right way, at the right time, with the right equipment?" said Stephen Rauch, an air safety investigator with the Aviation Management Directorate.

Valerie Naylor Park Superintendent has said the park likely will continue using helicopters for horse round ups because they are the most efficient and safest way to collect wildlife. Helicopters have been used in park roundups for about 20 years, she said.

An NTSB spokeswoman said that the probably cause will come later, in the agency's final report.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov, http://www.nps.gov/thro/