Preliminary findings released in Las Vegas police helicopter crash

Two Las Vegas police pilots were practicing a loss of power landing maneuver when they crash-landed one of the department's seven helicopters during a Sept. 24 training exercise at the North Las Vegas Airport, according to a preliminary report by federal investigators.

The result was a loss of the rotorcraft valued at $1 million, a Metropolitan Police Department spokesman said Tuesday.

Both pilots aboard the four-seat helicopter suffered minor injuries, and the department since has received a $1 million check from its insurance company to cover damages to the Hughes/McDonnell Douglas MD 500-series helicopter, built in 1998, police spokesman Bill Cassell said.

"The most important thing is that both pilots walked away relatively uninjured," Cassell said Tuesday.

He said no decision has been made about replacing the helicopter. "We are examining all the options," Cassell said.

He would not release the pilots' names, although officers involved in car crashes and other accidents have been routinely identified in the past.

He said the senior pilot, who was at the controls, retired after the crash. His departure was previously scheduled. The other pilot remains assigned to air support duty.

The late September report by investigators for the National Transportation Safety Board said the pilots were practicing a maneuver known as "autorotation" when the helicopter made a "hard landing" in an unpaved area at the east end of the North Las Vegas Airport, and rolled on its side.

Autorotation is a technique helicopter pilots use to land aircraft when the engine fails or loses power. A device between the engine and the main rotor allows the blades to continue to spin without power from the engine.

"The senior of the two pilots stated that they were alternately practicing autorotations. While he was maneuvering the helicopter, it got into a high vertical sink rate and impacted terrain. The helicopter rolled onto its right side, separating its tail boom and damaging the main rotor system," according to the safety board's preliminary report, which doesn't state a cause for accident.

A former military helicopter pilot, who spoke on background, said the comment in the safety board's preliminary report means the pilot who was controlling the helicopter allowed it to "sink" in a near vertical fashion, instead of attempting to glide on a slope toward a safe landing.

"He was not going forward enough to gain deceleration," that pilot said.

The training accident occurred at 4:09 p.m. Sept. 24. National Weather Service records show the wind at the North Las Vegas Airport four minutes before the hard landing was blowing out of the west at 15 mph, gusting to 25 mph.

The safety board's initial report said visibility was clear enough for "the local training flight, which had originated from North Las Vegas Airport about 30 minutes before the accident. A flight plan had not been filed."

Both pilots were certified flight instructors.

In an August interview, Las Vegas police Air Support Commander Lt. Tom Monahan noted that the department has seven helicopters for police operations, including two HH-1H "Huey" rescue ships, with a Cessna-182 airplane used for high-altitude surveillance.

In all, the department has 17 pilots who are rated for helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

Las Vegas police aircraft have been involved in other accidents in recent years. Most recently, in late May, one of the department's Bell HH-1H rescue helicopters clipped a Red Rock Canyon wall with its rotor blades. The pilot was able to land the aircraft safely, and all five on board for the training mission escaped injury.

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.