Drexel Hill medical helicopter crash in 2022 started with a sudden altitude change, NTSB report says
Federal aviation investigators say the sudden altitude change, which they have no known cause for, set off a chain reaction that likely caused the crash landing in January 2022.
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Federal transportation investigators say in a new report that they don’t know what caused a medical helicopter carrying a 2-month-old to have sudden altitude problems that ultimately led it to crash in Drexel Hill two years ago.
The National Transportation Safety Board released its final report on the incident last week after collecting video of the descent, engine data, and witness testimony.
The helicopter, which was meant to transport a 2-month-old from Chambersburg Hospital to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, crash-landed on Jan. 11, 2022, next to Drexel Hill United Methodist Church. Despite substantial damage to the Eurocopter EC135, no one on the ground was hurt and no major infrastructure or buildings were damaged in the landing. What’s more, the flight nurse was able to evacuate the baby and the pilot, who was the only one to suffer serious injuries, causing elected officials and emergency responders to call the landing nothing short of a miracle.
» READ MORE: Medical helicopter carrying a 2-month-old crashes in Drexel Hill, leaving 4 injured in a ‘miracle’ landing
The helicopter was cruising at 1,500 feet when it underwent a sudden increase in altitude and then had “a near-vertical, nose-down, spiraling descent,” the report said. The pilot was able to stop the spiraling but didn’t have enough engine power to regain altitude and was ultimately forced to “hard land” on the streets of Drexel Hill.
The NTSB said its investigation found “no evidence of malfunction” of the helicopter that would cause it to change in altitude in such a way, but the report described a chain reaction that likely took place during the dive. Investigators said a main rotor exceeding its capability led to the engine’s power turbines doing the same, which ultimately made it so the pilot couldn’t continue flying because the engines were operating at low power. The report found the engine control systems “functioned as designed.”
One witness, who described himself as an aviation enthusiast, said the helicopter caught his attention because it was nose down and “very low and louder than normal.” About a mile from the crash site, a doorbell camera captured the helicopter’s descent, as well as a high-pitched whine.
In interviews with aviation authorities, the crew described a harrowing emergency landing as they were 10 minutes from their destination. The flight medic told investigators he heard a loud bang, followed by a roll of the aircraft that had him and the flight nurse “pinned to the ceiling.”
The report said as the pilot leveled the helicopter, the rest of the crew secured the patient and themselves for landing, which according to the pilot transpired in “15 seconds or less.”
“I have no recollection of the initial incident. I remember being on the controls and fighting the aircraft in a dive,” the pilot told investigators, as he described the process of assessing various landing sites before making his final touchdown.
The pilot had 3,400 hours of helicopter flight experience, including 185 in the model of the helicopter that crashed.
After the landing, the pilot was transported to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center for his injuries and was quickly declared to be in stable condition. The infant finished the trip to CHOP by ambulance.