A Bell 206L “didn’t sound right” to a pilot on the ground seconds before its engine failed and the helicopter crashed into a wooded area during a sightseeing flight over the Great Smoky Mountains near Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, U.S., the afternoon of April 4, 2016, according to the final accident report by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The pilot and all four passengers were killed in the crash and subsequent fire, and the helicopter was destroyed. Had it not been for the fire, and had emergency medical treatment been available, the pilot and one passenger likely would have survived, the NTSB said, noting that it was unable to determine if two more passengers might also have survived under those conditions.
In its final report on the accident, released in mid-August, the N…
