No cause yet named, fog cited
The National Transportation Safety Board team investigating the Dec. 14 helicopter crash outside Dagsboro that killed developer/philanthropist Josh Freeman and his pilot, Alisa Howell, has issued its preliminary report on the crash. (See the full report on the NTSB Web site here.)
Special to the Coastal Point • PAUL KANAGIE:
The privately owned helicopter that crashed Thursday is pictured flying near Philadelphia in an undated photo.
The report does not name a cause in the crash, as is customary for preliminary factual reports from the NTSB. Investigators on the scene Dec. 15 noted that their work was focused on the collection of information that would be presented to the five-member NTSB board, which issues final reports on all such crashes.
The final report on the Dec. 14 accident is not expected until December of 2007, the year-long period customary for the NTSB’s investigation process.
The preliminary report notes the early winter sunset and the heavy fog that was reported as patchy throughout the area that Thursday night, with one witness estimating visibility as low as an eighth-mile shortly prior to the crash.
In the NTSB report, an eyewitness to the crash had his account described by investigators as follows (all times in 24-hour military-style time):
“Another witness was working about 800 feet from the accident site at the time of the accident. According to the witness, about 1815, he heard the helicopter’s engine start, and proceeded outside to watch the takeoff. The helicopter climbed vertically to a height just above the trees that were to its left and above the utility lines that were to its front, and hovered for a moment. While hovering, the landing light of the helicopter turned on, off, on, and off again.
“The helicopter then pitched nose down and began to accelerate forward. The witness expected to see the helicopter climb, as he had seen other helicopters do in the past; however, the accident helicopter just accelerated forward in a shallow descent until it impacted the ground. When asked about the sound of the helicopter or its engine during the takeoff, he stated that the sound was smooth and continuous, and that nothing sounded abnormal.
“The witness additionally described that at the time of the accident it was dark, the fog was dense, and that it thickened throughout the evening.”
Coastal Point • M. PATRICIA TITUS:
The crash left a 180-foot trail of debris in a corn field near Dagsboro.
The preliminary report extensively describes the damage found to the helicopter but makes no conclusion as to any possible mechanical failure or whether any of the damage indicates an impact with surrounding terrain, utility lines or other objects prior to the final impact with the ground. Witnesses reported that the helicopter has sounded normal prior to the crash, with no audible indications of mechanical failure at that time.