Jul. 13—The vintage Vietnam War helicopter that crashed on an excursion flight from Logan County Airport on June 22 killing all six people aboard struck a rock face and apparently severed a utility line before plunging to the pavement of W.Va. 17 and catching on fire, according to a preliminary report on the crash.
The preliminary report, released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board, said the crash took place about 15 minutes after the 60-year-old Bell UH-1B "Huey" helicopter departed Logan County Airport on the last scheduled excursion flight of the day.
According to the report, "the helicopter impacted a rock face about 3.5 nautical miles east" of the airport, "and came to rest partially inverted on its right side" on the highway surface, spanning its 26-foot width and continuing on to a ditch at the base a cliff of the the edge of the road.
"The main wreckage was 542 feet past a utility cable that crossed about 180 feet above the road," the report continued. "Two utility cables were fractured, consistent with tension overload, and were displaced toward the main wreckage" from the cable remaining on the line.
"Examination of the wreckage revealed that the cockpit and cabin had impacted the road and a guardrail, and both were consumed by a post-impact fire," according to the report's narrative.
Among other preliminary findings, investigators discovered that the engine throttle had been set at nearly 100%, but the throttle linkage was fractured near the left engine mount connection. While the helicopter caught fire after impact, there was no explosion, according to the report, and there were no witnesses to the crash.
Visibility at the time of the accident was 10 miles, under scattered clouds, according to the report.
Those killed in the crash were John Nagle II, 53, of Austin, Texas; Donald Sandhoff, 69, of Durham, North Carolina; Kevin Warren, 53, of Franklin, Tennessee, 51; Carolyn O'Connor, 73, of Winter Garden, Florida; and Marvin Bledsoe, 64, and Jack Collins, 65, both of Chapmanville.
The helicopter was "quite likely the oldest flying Huey in the world," according to the website for MARPAT Aviation LLC, the company that operated the helicopter. MARPAT, based at Logan County Airport, is a Federal Aviation Administration-certified maintenance shop.
The helicopter was built in 1962 and shipped to South Vietnam the same year, remaining in-country, where it served as a gunship, troop carrier and medical evacuation aircraft, until 1971. The helicopter was dubbed the "Miss Hap" by personnel in one of the units it served with.
After the war, the helicopter was used as a crop sprayer and to fight forest fires. It also appeared in several movies and television shows, including "Die Hard," "Broken Arrow" and "Mars Attacks."
The helicopter was the main attraction during the 7th annual Huey Reunion, a yearly get-together of former Huey pilots and crew members, members of their families and helicopter enthusiasts in general. In exchange for donations to cover fuel and operating expenses, attendees could ride in the helicopter on brief excursions from the Logan airport.
The crash occurred at the end of the second day of the planned six-day event.
Rick Steelhammer is a features reporter. He can be reached at 304-348-5169 or rsteelhammer
@hdmediallc.com.
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