The MD Helicopters 369HM sat on an airport ramp at Wood County Regional Airport in Bowling Green, Ohio, U.S., for more than an hour on a snowy morning before taking off on a power line observation flight.
GPS data showed that the helicopter was being flown at an airspeed of less than 10 kt, about 200 ft above the ground in a series of right turns that the report said were “consistent with the slow hover flight” of line inspection operations when it descended at an angle and struck the ground. The pilot and the power line inspector were both killed.
The U.S National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in its final report on the Jan. 15, 2018, accident that the probable cause was “a loss of engine power due to snow or ice ingestion at an altitude that was insufficient to allow for engine reignition.” Contributing factors were the helicopter’s altitude and flat light conditions, as well as other unspecified conditions that “precluded a successful autorotation to the …
