Eurocopter MBB-BK N854EC

Summary

On 29 December 2010 at about 07:23 local time, a Eurocopter MBB-BK registered N854EC, operated by Air Methods, was involved in an accident near Cherry Point, North Carolina, United States. 3 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

29 December 2010 at 07:23

Classification

Accident

Location

Cherry Point, North Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Cherry Point Marine Corp Air (NKT)

Coordinates

34.9019, -76.8750

Aircraft

Eurocopter MBB-BK

Registration

N854EC

Category

Helicopter

Engines

2

Operator

Air Methods

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Greenville → Morehead City

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ERA11LA106

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's impairment during cruise flight due to a recurring stroke. Contributing to the accident was the Federal Aviation Administration's inadequate oversight of the pilot's known medical condition.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was conducting a night emergency medical services flight with no patient on board. When the helicopter was about 12 miles south of the airport, he radioed air traffic control (ATC) and declared an emergency, due to a personal medical incapacitation. He requested a vector to a nearby airport and in response the controller provided him with a position report and began giving him vectors. Subsequently, the pilot overflew the airport and was then given a vector back to the airport. The pilot landed on a runway at the airport with assistance on the flight controls by a flight nurse seated in the front seat. During the landing the helicopter bounced and experienced a hard landing. The helicopter, which was examined by personnel at the helicopter's manufacturer, sustained substantial damage to the structure. Postaccident interviews with the pilot revealed that while in cruise flight, and shortly after he disengaged the autopilot, his right arm fell to his side. Medical records of the pilot’s treatment following the accident documented the sudden onset of right hand weakness and slurred speech while piloting the helicopter, with the subsequent identification of two recent strokes on an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) medical records documented that the pilot also had experienced a small stroke approximately 4 years prior to the accident. There was no evidence in the FAA records of any formal evaluation of the risk of a recurrent stroke for this pilot or of any formal FAA neurology evaluation. The pilot's records did reflect that no definitive cause for a previous stroke was found, that the pilot had a family history of stroke, that the pilot was increasingly obese, and that the pilot’s physician had discontinued a medication prescribed in part to reduce the pilot’s risk of a future stroke.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.