The 2018 helicopter crash in Williamsburg that resulted in two deaths was probably caused by the pilot’s failure to operate and control the helicopter safely due to his impaired cognitive and physical abilities.
The National Transportation Safety Board released that determination recently following its investigation into the crash of an R-44 Robinson Helicopter piloted by Henry Schwarz of Fairfax. Schwarz, 85, was killed, as was Jean Danylko, 91, a resident of condominium at Bristol Commons in Williamsburg into which the helicopter crashed.
The NTSB examination of the wreckage found “no anomalies that would’ve precluded normal operation” the afternoon of the crash, including weather or engine failure. The report cited Schwarz’s history of tremors due to Parkinson’s Disease and dementia as factors.
In 2016, a neurologist recommended to the Federal Aviation Association that Schwarz not fly. In June 2017, a second neurologist concurred and also said he should only drive short distances because he was “concerned about the pilot’s reaction time and judgment.”
According to the NTSB report, Schwarz told the second neurologist in August 2017 of having been in six motor vehicle accidents through the spring of that year. He was also reportedly experiencing constant daily left-hand tremors and imbalance at that time.
But Schwarz piloted his helicopter from Stafford County Regional Airport to Williamsburg-Jamestown Airport on July 8, 2018 for a meeting. After the helicopter was refueled, Schwarz departed Williamsburg-Jamestown at 4:30 p.m. to return to Stafford.
The helicopter reached a height of 1,700 feet, but within minutes plummeted at a rate of greater than 10,000 feet per minute. One witness described the helicopter as “rocking back and forth unsteadily” just before it pitched downward and crashed nose-first into the roof of the two-story condominium building.
“It is likely that impairment resulted from one or more of the pilot’s well-documented progressive impaired cognitive and physical abilities (and) negatively affected his ability to safely operate the helicopter and led to the loss of control,” the NTSB report concluded.
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