Helicopter crash with six deaths caused by inadequate inspections and lack of oversight by the FAA

LOGAN COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) – A helicopter crash that killed six people in Logan County more than two years ago was partly caused by inadequate inspections, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a report released Tuesday.

The NTSB also stated that a lack of oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) contributed to the crash.

The Bell UH-1B helicopter, better known as the Vietnam War-era Huey, crashed in Amherstdale, West Virginia, on June 22, 2022. The helicopter had been providing flights to participants of a Huey reunion event sponsored by MARPAT Aviation at Logan County Airport.

The victims came from all over the country and were between the early 50s and over 70 years old.

According to the NTSB, the helicopter struck power lines during an emergency landing attempt after engine power was lost. Investigators determined that the loss of power was due to the failure of an engine component.

“The NTSB said the helicopter operator, MARPAT Aviation, likely would have discovered the fatigue cracks and other engine damage that led to the engine component failure if it had conducted a more thorough inspection of the UH-1B helicopter, also known as the 'Huey,'” the report said.

According to the NTSB, the accident flight was the last scheduled flight of the day on the second day of the event

The report states: “The FAA exercised 'fundamentally no oversight' of MARPAT Aviation. The NTSB found that the FAA lacked guidelines for inspectors that provided for routine oversight of operators with experimental airworthiness certificates.”

The NTSB further stated that the crashed Huey was issued a special certificate of airworthiness in the “experimental exhibition” category by the FAA in December 2014.

“The NTSB stated that the FAA should not have permitted the inspection and maintenance of the helicopter under then-current requirements because they were insufficient to ensure the aircraft's airworthiness and operations,” the NTSB report said.

The agency further stated that “stricter inspection standards” for former military aircraft had been introduced by February 2015. However, these did not apply to the Huey that crashed because its airworthiness certificate had only been issued months earlier.

“MARPAT Aviation had previously inspected and maintained the accident helicopter using more extensive inspection standards when it was operating under a restricted airworthiness certificate, most recently between October 2013 and December 2014,” the NTSB said. “Although the operator was not required to continue to apply the more stringent inspection standards, the NTSB said that 'MARPAT Aviation's decision not to apply more stringent inspection standards when the helicopter was operating under an experimental certificate was also a factor leading to the accident.'”

The NTSB said it had made six new safety recommendations to the FAA and affirmed one more as a result of its investigation.

To previous reporting >>>

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