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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