Helicopter pilot was disoriented by storm

The pilot of a Flight For Life helicopter that crashed earlier this month apparently became disoriented in a winter storm and was trying to find his way when he hit the ground, killing himself and two flight nurses, a report released today says.

A preliminary report by Bob Crispin, investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, said visibility in the blowing snow and sleet was about 50 feet when the helicopter plowed into the ground, killing pilot James Bond Jr., 42, Kathy Batterman, 44, and Leroy Shelton, 37.

The report gave no indication of mechanical failure.

"(The helicopter) collided with terrain while maneuvering," the report says.

Crispin quoted witnesses as seeing the helicopter flying 150- to-200 feet off the ground using a searchlight as it followed the U.S. 95 near Indian Springs, at times flying north and at times south.

"But then it would suddenly fly away from the highway, only to return a short time later," Crispin said in his report. "At one point the pilot illuminated a car and seemed to follow it for a time."

An Indian Springs resident reported hearing the sounds of the helicopter flying back-and-forth in what he thought was a north-south direction for about 10 minutes.

"Finally, the engine noise became so faint he was unable to hear it," Crispin said. "However, a few minutes later the engine noise returned. He heard the engine sounds for a few more minutes and then heard a big thump."

The resident, concerned about a crash, drove toward the origin of the sound and found the helicopter in flames.

"He estimated that the snow had reduced visibility of less than 50 yards at the time," Crispin said.

The helicopter was owned by Metro Aviation Inc., who has a contract with Valley Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas.

The flight crew had delivered a patient to the hospital and was returning to its home station in Pahrump.

Low clouds over the mountains between Las Vegas and Pahrump prevented the helicopter, identified by Crispin as a Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm, from taking the preferred route.

The alternative route circles the mountains, following U.S. 95 northwest to Indian Springs and around the mountain.

The flight left Las Vegas at about 11:15 p.m. on April 3 and crashed at about 10 minutes after midnight, April 4.

The pilot was supposed to radio in every 15 minutes, but failed to make a call due at 11:45 p.m.

A second motorist, westbound on U.S. 95 south of Indian Springs, reported seeing a helicopter with a flashing strobe light flying over the highway near the overpass at State Route 156 several minutes before other witnesses reported hearing the crash.

The second motorist estimated the helicopters altitude at about 1,000 feet. He told investigators that before reaching Indian Springs, the sky was overcast, with freezing rain that turned into wet snow and then freezing sleet.

Within a few minutes, the freezing precipitation had obscured the windshield of the motorist, his wipers unable to remove the ice. He said he had to roll down his window to see the road in front of him.

The motorist said he was forced to slow his vehicle from 70 miles per hour down to 35.

By the time he reached Indian Springs, he estimated visibility at 50 feet with winds from the south at 20 mph.

Crispin noted that the helicopter was not certified for instrument flight, but was equipped with flight instruments, include a radar altimeter and navigational radios.

The aircraft was approved for flight in wet snow.

Crispin said the pilot had logged a total of 10,920 hours in the air, including 6,580 in helicopters with about 3,592 hours of instrument time. He had about 187 hours with this particular make of helicopter.

Bond had completed inadvertent meteorological condition training within the last 90 days, according to Crispin.

Wreckage from the crash covered an area that stretched 466 feet, Crispin said.

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