More detail on this person: A helicopter crash
that killed five people north of Phoenix in
February was caused by a rotor blade that came
apart in midair, according to a lawsuit filed by
the pilot's family.
By BOB CHRISTIE
PHOENIX _ A helicopter crash that killed five
people north of Phoenix in February was caused by
a rotor blade that came apart in midair, according
to a lawsuit filed by the pilot's family. One of
the rotor blades on the Eurocopter EC135 piloted
by John "Rick" Morton of Seattle had been
repeatedly repaired before the Feb. 14 crash,
attorney Gary C. Robb of Kansas City, Mo., said
Thursday. He filed the suit on behalf of Morton's
wife, Charlotte Morton, and adult daughter, Brenda
Morton, both of the Seattle area.
Morton, 63, was piloting the personal aircraft of
executive Thomas J. Stewart, owner of Scottsdale,
Ariz.-based Services Group of America, one of the
nation's largest food service distributors.
Stewart, his wife, young daughter and
brother-in-law were also killed. Stewart and his
family were originally from the Seattle area. An
official cause for the crash hasn't been
determined by federal investigators, but
mechanical failure was suspected from the day of
the crash because witnesses saw pieces flying off
the aircraft just before it went down. The
helicopter was taking Stewart and his family back
to Scottsdale after a weekend at his ranch near
Flagstaff.
The lawsuit filed in Maricopa County Superior
Court in Phoenix names the mechanic who did the
repairs, Robert Starr of Seattle, his company,
Cascade Airframe Repair Inc., the previous owner
of the helicopter and the manufacturer,
Eurocopter. Starr wasn't immediately available
for comment at his business, and a call seeking
comment from Eurocopter wasn't immediately
returned. The Eurocopter has a fine safety
record, Robb said, and there is no indication that
there is a bigger problem with the popular copter,
which is used by many law-enforcement and news
agencies. But one of the main rotor blades on the
crashed aircraft had been damaged after flying
through a thunderstorm and had extensive repairs
by both Eurocopter and Cascade, Robb said.
Robb, who has represented clients in helicopter
crashes for nearly 30 years, said he believes a
crack developed along the leading edge of the
rotor blade and it expanded and led to a
separation or in-flight fracture.
Morton was a U.S. Army veteran, served in Vietnam
and had accumulated more than 11,000 flight hours
in the past 30 years. He had been Stewart's
personal pilot for many years, and the day he was
killed was his 38th wedding anniversary. "This
was just devastating to his wife and his family,"
Robb said. "I think people who knew Tom Stewart
knew that he only hired the very best, and the
flight experience of this pilot in particular,
John Morton, was extensive. "The truly sad thing
is that if it had been any other kind of in-flight
abnormality _ if you're talking tail rotor, if
you're talking engine failure, if you're talking
avionics _ John could very likely had effectuated
a survivable landing. But the one thing that a
helicopter pilot is helpless to possibly do
anything about is where you lose that main rotor
blade. It is just insurmountable."
Stewart, 64, joined his father's Seattle-based
port support business in the late 1960s and
expanded it into insurance and food distribution,
fruit packing and retailing. After spinning off
some subsidiaries, he moved the company to
Arizona in 2006.
NTSB Identification: WPR10FA133, 14 CFR Part
91: General Aviation, Accident occurred Sunday,
February 14, 2010 in Cave Creek, AZ, Aircraft:
EUROCOPTER EC135, registration: N127TS,
Injuries: 5 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to
change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this
report will be corrected when the final report has
been completed.
On February 14, 2010, about 1505 mountain
standard time, a Eurocopter EC135 T1, N127TS, a
twin engine turbine powered helicopter, was
destroyed following a loss of control and impact
with terrain near Cave Creek, Arizona. The
commercial pilot and four passengers were killed.
The helicopter was registered to Services Group of
America Inc., of Scottsdale, Arizona. Visual
meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of
the accident, and no flight plan was filed. The
flight was being operated in accordance with 14
Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight
had departed a private ranch facility near
Flagstaff, Arizona, about 1445. Its destination
was Scottsdale, Arizona.
Witnesses reported observing the helicopter
proceeding from the north to the south at an
altitude of about 300 feet above ground level.
Witnesses subsequently reported hearing one or
two "popping" sounds, followed by the helicopter
rotating two or three times in a clockwise, level,
360-degree circle before nosing over and impacting
terrain. One witness described the descent path as
"almost vertical." The helicopter was consumed by
fire.
An initial onsite examination of the wreckage and
debris area revealed that the helicopter came to
rest just north of a river wash on a residential
gravel access road. Main rotor blade debris was
observed over an area of about one-quarter of a
mile from the impact site to the north and in line
with the helicopter's observed flight path.
The wreckage was recovered to a secure location
for further examination.
At 1454, the weather reporting facility at the
Deer Valley Airport (DVT), located about 12
nautical miles southwest of the accident site,
reported wind calm, visibility 10 miles, sky
clear, temperature 23 degrees Celsius, dew point
-03 degrees Celsius, and an altimeter setting of
29.98 inches of Mercury.
at Friday, May 14, 2010
Labels: Accidents disasters and incidents,
Helicopter
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
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