- Date
- June 22, 2022, 16:45 local (20:45 UTC)
- Place
- Amherstdale, WV · Blair Mountain Hwy & Kelly Hollow Road
- Injuries
- 6 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Emergency descent
- Aircraft
- N98FBell UH-1B
- Defining event
- Autorotation: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 14, 2024
- Report
- Board-adopted by Notation
- Investigation class
- Class 1
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/AVP100, Ozark Aeroworks, LLC
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 20220622023339A
- Case key
- 105306
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
the operator’s failure to adequately inspect the former military turbine powered helicopter, which allowed an engine issue to progress and result in a loss of engine power and a subsequent loss of control after the helicopter struck powerlines during a forced landing. Also causal to the accident were the following: 1) the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) inadequate inspection and maintenance standards for former military turbine powered aircraft operating with an experimental exhibition airworthiness certificate; 2) the operator’s use of those standards instead of more rigorous standards, which were readily available to the operator and previously used to inspect and maintain the helicopter; and 3) the FAA’s inadequate oversight of the operator, which did not detect the inherent risk associated with the operation.
Findings · 6
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
On June 22, 2022, about 1645 eastern daylight time, a Bell Helicopter UH-1B helicopter, N98F, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident in Amherstdale, West Virginia. About 15 minutes after the flight departed, the helicopter impacted two powerlines and a rock face during a forced landing, and a postcrash fire ensued. The pilot and five passengers were fatally injured. The helicopter was operated by MARPAT Aviation under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91
Aircraft
- Registration
- N98F
- Reported as
- Bell UH-1B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 488 (62-1968)
- Built
- 1962
- Airframe hours
- 9,029.3
- Engine
- Avco Lycoming T53-L-11D, 1,100 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Prescott Gordon F
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 29, 2022
- Departed
- 6L4 · Logan, WV
- Airport
- 6L4 · Logan County
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Handheld GPS
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew · 3
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 53
- Injuries
- Fatal
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 16, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 493.1 total · 21.1 in this make and model · 6.5 in the last 90 days
- Role
- Pilot-rated passenger
- Age
- 51
- Injuries
- Fatal
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,400 total
- Role
- Pilot-rated passenger
- Age
- 69
- Injuries
- Fatal
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 50 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Turbulence
- Unknown
- Observed at
- 6L4, 3.3 nm away
- METAR
- METAR K6L4 222045Z AUTO VRB06KT 10SM SCT049 32/21 A3000 RMK A02
Docket · 30
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 27, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 117 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.