Temperatures were well below freezing when the EagleMed Eurocopter AS350 B2 crashed into an Oklahoma City retirement home parking lot during a Feb. 22, 2013, repositioning flight and exploded in flames, killing the pilot of the emergency medical services flight and the flight nurse and seriously injuring the paramedic.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the accident’s probable cause was the “loss of engine power due to engine ice ingestion during initial climb after takeoff in dark night conditions.” Contributing factors were the “lack of an installed engine air inlet cover while the helicopter was parked outside, exposed to precipitation and freezing temperatures before the accident, and the pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection that failed to detect ice accumulation in the area of the air inlet.”
The flight began at 0538 local time with takeoff from the Integris Baptist Hospital. The helicopter was headed about 50 nm (93 km) northwest to the…
