NTSB releases Clear Lake crash data
On 11 August, the US National Transportation Safety Board issued its factual report into the crash of a Bell Helicopter model 407...
On 11 August, the US National Transportation Safety Board issued its factual report into the crash of a Bell Helicopter model 407, N445MT, which crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa, US on 2 January 2013. The pilot and two medical crew members were killed in the crash, and the helicopter, which operated by critical air care provider Med-Trans Corporation, was destroyed. The flight had originated at Mercy Medical Center in Mason City, Iowa at 20:49 hrs, crashing in ‘a harvested agricultural field’ less than 10 minutes later at 20:57 hrs. It was heading to Palo Alto County Hospital in Emmetsburg.
According to a witness whose testimony was cited in the report, meteorological conditions were ‘misty, with a light wind’, while another witness referred to ‘a coating of ice on his truck windshield that the wipers would not clear’. The HEMS-configured aircraft ‘was not certificated for intentional flight into known icing conditions’, and its rotor blades ‘were not equipped with ice protection’, said the NTSB.
According to the report, ‘a post accident examination of the engine was performed under the direct supervision of an NTSB powerplant specialist’. “The engine exhibited deformation of several components,” it went on to say, although these were ‘consistent with impact forces’, and ‘no anomalies consistent with a preimpact failure or malfunction were observed’.