thruthefence
Aerospace
- May 11, 2005
- 733
From AIN Alerts
"Blade Separation Preceded EC135 Crash
Preliminary indications are that blade failure played a role in the fatal crash of a 2000 American Eurocopter EC135T1 near Cave Creek, Ariz., on Sunday afternoon. Witnesses on the ground reported hearing a popping sound and then seeing parts fly off the helicopter before it rolled several times, pitched 90 degrees nose-down into the ground and caught fire. The NTSB confirmed to AIN that parts of the rotor blades were found half a mile from the crash site. The helicopter was en route from Flagstaff to Scottsdale Air Park when it crashed in a desert wash between two houses, killing all five aboard. Among the passengers were the helicopter’s owner–billionaire Thomas Stewart, CEO of Services Group of America–his wife, five-year-old daughter and the pilot. Stewart is remembered for unsuccessfully trying to get the city of Seattle to approve a helipad on the roof of his office building there, and eventually taking the matter to the Washington State Supreme Court"
"Blade Separation Preceded EC135 Crash
Preliminary indications are that blade failure played a role in the fatal crash of a 2000 American Eurocopter EC135T1 near Cave Creek, Ariz., on Sunday afternoon. Witnesses on the ground reported hearing a popping sound and then seeing parts fly off the helicopter before it rolled several times, pitched 90 degrees nose-down into the ground and caught fire. The NTSB confirmed to AIN that parts of the rotor blades were found half a mile from the crash site. The helicopter was en route from Flagstaff to Scottsdale Air Park when it crashed in a desert wash between two houses, killing all five aboard. Among the passengers were the helicopter’s owner–billionaire Thomas Stewart, CEO of Services Group of America–his wife, five-year-old daughter and the pilot. Stewart is remembered for unsuccessfully trying to get the city of Seattle to approve a helipad on the roof of his office building there, and eventually taking the matter to the Washington State Supreme Court"