NTSB Finds Operator Error Likely Caused Fatal Crash of Medical Helicopter

BUFFALO, N.Y.—Operator error likely caused a medical helicopter to break apart mid-flight and crash during a training exercise last year, killing the pilot and flight instructor, National Transportation Safety Board investigators said in their final report. The Mercy Flight helicopter was on its second training run of the day when it went down in a field in the western New York town of Elba in April 2022. No patients were on board. In a report issued Dec. 8, investigators cited the pilots’ “inappropriate flight control inputs” while practicing for an unstable condition known as vortex ring state. The errors caused the main rotor blade to make contact with the helicopter’s tail, leading to the mid-flight break-up. The flight instructor’s “inadequate monitoring of the flight” also contributed, the NTSB said....