NTSB: Helicopter’s engine had been replaced before deadly flight that killed five

By Gregan Wingert

Friday, Dec. 9, 2011 | 10:18 p.m.

New evidence concerning the engine and the erratic flight pattern of the tour helicopter that crashed Wednesday has emerged from the National Transportation Safety Board’s first day of investigation.

The helicopter — an American Eurocopter AS350BS — had an engine replaced Tuesday. Also, the helicopter, while on its way to the Hoover Dam, made a sudden climb and sharp left turn shortly before plunging into a remote V-shaped rugged canyon near Lake Mead, where it crashed and burned, killing the pilot and all four passengers, Mark Rosekind, a member of the NTSB, said Friday afternoon.

NTSB will go to the crash site Saturday to continue investigating and on Sunday the NTSB will work on recovering parts from the helicopter, Rosekind said.

A preliminary report would be released within 10 days from the start of the investigation, according to Rosekind. A final report that includes NTSB safety recommendations could take nine months to a year.

At a press briefing Friday afternoon in Henderson, Rosekind said the board’s 12-member team began its search for information Thursday at the crash site, which is located in the River Mountains 1.8 miles off the main road in an area difficult to access.

“I had the chance to go on site,” Rosekind said.

The onsite investigation of the helicopter's engine concluded that it "was producing power on impact,” Rosekind said.

Meanwhile, information concerning the helicopter’s flight path has been gathered from radar data and investigators will be looking at the aircraft’s maintenance records, Rosekind said.

So far, what they learned was the engine and two actuators of the helicopter had reached their life limits and had been replaced, he said. Investigators will focus on seeing if the parts were changed and changed correctly, he said.

Investigators found the helicopter had made a test flight and two full tour flights earlier on Wednesday before taking off on the tour flight that crashed, Rosekind said.

On its fatal flight, the helicopter had been following its normal tour path until minutes before the crash occurred, around 4:40 p.m., he said.

The tour began at McCarran International Airport and was to return to McCarran after touring the Hoover Dam and Las Vegas Strip, according to a release by Sundance Helicopters Inc.

Sundance CEO Larry Pietropaolo said there was no distress call before the chopper's GPS signal stopped during the typical 40-minute twilight flight, the Associated Press reports.

According to Rosekind, the flight made it over the Strip and headed east towards the Hoover Dam, but during its flight over the mountains had made a left turn that was not apart of the usual flight path.

Bill English, who is leading the NTSB’s investigation, said that about a minute after that left turn the helicopter crashed.

“The last minute were where things changed,” Rosekind said.

As it continues its investigation, the NTSB will be conducting interviews with witnesses, helicopter mechanics and flight trainers.

More witnesses have come forward, English said. Several are employees of the Alfred Merritt Smith Water Treatment Facility, which is about four miles east of the crash site.

The NTSB will take into consideration human factors, such as sleep patterns and eating habits of the pilot.

The pilot, Landon Jay Nield, 31, has worked for Sundance Helicopters since June 8, 2009.

Nield was one of 14 children in a Mormon family that lived in Wyoming and Utah. According to the FAA, Nield had no history of accidents or violations, the AP reports.

“Our deepest condolences go out to the family of pilot Landon Nield and the families of the four passengers,” Larry Pietropaulo, Sundance Helicopters chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement.

Bodies of the four passengers were removed Thursday and the Clark County Coroner’s Office is working with the crash victims’ family members in Las Vegas, Utica, Kan., and New Delhi, India, according to Clark County

officials. The Coroner’s Office is also working to obtain medical records to verify the identities of the passengers. Names will be released next week by the coroner.

Names of the two people from New Delhi have not be released, but family members have come forward to identify married couple Delwin and Tamara Chapman, both 49, of Utica, Kan., who were in Las Vegas celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary, according to the Associated Press.

Delwin ran a construction company and served on the City Council, reports the AP. Tamara recently closed her hairstyling shop in the city of about 160 people.

Sundance Helicopters suspended operations Thursday, Dec. 8. The company resumed flights today, Dec. 9, and is providing full refunds to customers if requested.