An Airbus AS350B3 operating as an emergency medical services flight crashed near Somerville, Tenn., because the pilot lost control of the aircraft, according to the NTSB's final report on the Oct. 22, 2013 nighttime crash. The Saftey Board believes the accident was precipitated by the pilot’s inadvertent encounter with IMC at the same moment he was apparently attempting to respond to an obstacle alert generated by the helicopter’s terrain avoidance warning system (HTaws). The pilot and two medical crew on board perished in the crash. The helicopter, which was not equipped for flight under IMC, departed Memphis Hospital Wing heliport at approximately 5:47 a.m. en route to pick up a patient in Bolivar, Tenn. After the helicopter proceeded east for approximately 18 minutes, the tracking system recorded the helicopter entering a climbing right turn at approximately 1,100 feet agl until the data ended at 6:05 a.m. The wreckage, largely consumed by a post-crash fire, was later found in a wooded area. The investigation determined that the helicopter hit trees at a steep angle and that the orientation of the main wreckage indicated a loss of control. |
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