Powerplant To Be Shipped To Rolls-Royce For Analysis

The National Transportation Safety Board is sharing a few clues into what may have caused the crash of a TV news helicopter in a wooded area of a Houston suburb Monday morning.

The pilot, 43-year-old John Downhower, was an employee of Helicopters, Incorporated, which provided the Bell 206L-4 (type shown above) which TV viewers knew as "SkyEye 13 HD." The reporter and photographer along as his passenger, 36-year-old Dave Garrett, was an employee of Metro Networks, a national chain which provides pooled news and traffic coverage to TV stations in many cities.

As ANN reported, the two were on their way to cover a shooting incident for a local ABC affiliate when the chopper went down. That station, KTRK-13, reports there was a gap of about two minutes from the loss of the uplink signal from the aircraft, and the 911 call that summoned responders to the crash.

As the wreckage was removed from the scene Tuesday for further testing, NTSB Senior Air Safety Investigator Arnold Scott told the station, "We've examined the helicopter, and we're satisfied that the helicopter was intact at impact when it started hitting the trees."

Investigators added they also found what on first glance appeared to be possible issues within the helicopter's engine, although they stressed nothing concrete has been determined as of yet.

"We've examined the servos and the pitch and collective linkages. They are all attached, so we don't, at this point, see a flight control problem," Scott said. "We're having the engine manufacturer, Rolls Royce, ship down a shipping container, and we'll ship the engine back to Indianapolis, where it will be disassembled and examined."

The tragedy has touched a nerve among local reporters, law enforcement personnel, and others. Visitors have brought flowers and words of condolence to both the crash site and the KTRK studios.
 
Further investigation of the wreckage will be conducted at a salvage yard in Fort Worth.

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 6ZV        Make/Model: B206      Description: BELL 206B HELICOPTER
  Date: 10/13/2008     Time: 1615

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

LOCATION
  City: HOUSTON   State: TX   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  N6ZV, A BELL 206 ROTORCRAFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, THE TWO
  PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED, NEAR HOUSTON, TX

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

WEATHER: KIAH 131648Z SPECI 13007KT 10SM SCT026 27/22 A3012

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Unknown      Phase: Unknown      Operation: OTHER

  FAA FSDO: HOUSTON, TX  (SW09)                   Entry date: 10/14/2008

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.ntsb.gov