Inadequate inspections and oversight cited in fatal WV helicopter crash

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Inadequate inspections by an operator and a lack of oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration were partly to blame for the crash of a Vietnam-era tour helicopter that killed six people in West Virginia two years ago, according to a report final published on Tuesday.

The Bell UH-1B “Huey” helicopter featured in action movies lost engine power and struck power lines during an attempted forced landing in June 2022 in Amherstdale, the National Transportation Safety Board said. The helicopter, which had taken off 15 minutes earlier from Logan County Airport, then crashed into a rock and caught fire near a road.

Investigators say a component failure caused the engine to lose power. More comprehensive inspections by operator MARPAT Aviation, a Logan County flight school, likely would have found fatigue cracks and other engine damage that caused the component to fail, the NTSB said in a statement.

Someone who answered the phone at MARPAT Aviation on Tuesday said no one was available to comment before hanging up.

The NTSB said the FAA provided “virtually no oversight” of MARPAT Aviation. At the time, the helicopter was operating under a “special airworthiness certificate” in an experimental display category. The certificate was issued in December 2014 by the FAA’s Charleston District Flight Standards Office. The NTSB noted that the FAA does not have guidance for inspectors to conduct routine surveillance of operators with experimental airworthiness certificates.

When the helicopter had a restricted category certificate, last in effect in 2014, the operator followed stricter inspection requirements, the NTSB said.

Additionally, the Charleston district office was unaware that MARPAT Aviation was operating the helicopter at the 2022 event. No flight plan was requested or filed for the local flight, the NTSB said.

Among six recommendations made by the NTSB to the FAA is a review of certificates of airworthiness issued to former military turbine-powered helicopters and requiring operators of experimental exhibition aircraft to disclose their events.

In a statement, the FAA said it “takes the NTSB’s recommendations very seriously and will provide a response to the six new recommendations in an appropriate timeframe.”

The flight was the last scheduled for the day in a multi-day gathering for helicopter enthusiasts, where visitors could sign up to ride or fly the historic Huey helicopter, described by organizers as one of the last of its kind to still flying

The helicopter was flown by the 114th Assault Helicopter Company, “The Knights of the Sky,” in Vinh Long, Vietnam, during much of the 1960s, according to MARPAT Aviation’s website. After Huey returned to the U.S. in 1971, the website says, he was featured in films such as “Die Hard, “The Rock” and “Under Siege 2: Dark Territory.”

During the reunion, people who made a donation were able to fly the helicopter with a “safety pilot” sitting in the front left seat, according to the report. People could take a helicopter ride for a suggested donation.

The NTSB said the operator did not have a flight exemption that would have allowed the helicopter to be operated for compensation.

A private pilot, two “pilot rated” passengers and three others died in the crash. The 53-year-old pilot flew the helicopter at the reunion event from 2020 to 2022, the NTSB said.

There were no known witnesses to the crash, according to the report.

Several wrongful death lawsuits were later filed on behalf of the helicopter’s passengers.

Photo: Emergency crews on the scene in 2022. (AP Photo/Chris Jackson, File)

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