Helikopterulykke - AW139 havarert på Bahamas - AIN

Bahamas AW139 Crash Kills Seven

A Leonardo AW139 crash early on the morning of July 4 has killed American coal billionaire Chris Cline and six others, including the operator of a popular West Palm Beach, Florida helicopter school, Geoff Painter. The 2008 model year AW139, N32CC, went down in what is being described as black hole conditions shortly after taking off from Cline’s private island of Big Grand Cay shortly at 12:45 a.m. local time for a 117-nm flight to Fort Lauderdale. However, the helicopter was not reported missing for 14 hours. 

The wreckage was recovered in 16 feet of water approximately two miles from shore. The helicopter’s retractable landing gear remained extended. Photos of the wreckage show tail boom separation, the cabin section laying inverted on the seabed, and significant impact damage to the remaining fuselage.

Painter, 52, was a former RAF pilot with approximately 13,000 hours of flight time and the operator of Cloud 9 Helicopters based at the North County airport in West Palm Beach. He held an airline transport pilot rating for helicopters. A second pilot aboard, David Jude, 57, was employed by Cline. Both pilots were type-rated in the AW139 and held instrument ratings. The Bahamas Air Accident Investigation Division, Department of Civil Aviation, the Royal Bahamas Police, and the Defense Force are investigating, along with technical assistance from the FAA, Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB), and Leonardo.