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Three hurt in helicopter crash
Tuesday, December 19, 2000 By Rhonda Miller, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Charles Hrutkay knew something was amiss when he looked up after leaving a class at Allegheny County Airport yesterday afternoon.
"I came out of class at 3 o'clock and saw this green and white helicopter circling low and fast," said Hrutkay, a student at the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics.
What Hrutkay saw was part of a 25-minute struggle by the helicopter's crew to land safely despite a crippled tail rotor. The copter finally spun and fell more than 100 feet, crashing into a grassy area near a runway and injuring the three crew members.
The pilot and two technicians, all from the Pittsburgh area, were listed in serious condition at UPMC Presbyterian last night. But officials of Corporate Jets Inc., which owns the helicopter, said the crew members were doing well.
"They were alert and talking from the beginning," said Larry Pietropaulo, executive vice president of Corporate Jets.
The pilot was Herb Schutt, 57, of Bethel Park, a veteran aviator who flew in Vietnam and has been employed by Corporate Jets for 15 years.
The technicians were Jay Mains, 47, of East Pittsburgh, who has been with the company for 21 years, and Alfred Lundy, 20, who has been with the company for three weeks. Lundy's place of residence was not available last night.
The medical helicopter, which serves a hospital system in Fort Wayne, Ind., was on a test run out of the airport in West Mifflin when trouble developed with the tail rotor, which is needed to keep the aircraft from spinning out of control when landing.
As the crew struggled, it stayed in contact with air traffic controllers.
"They tried to make several landings from varied positions and at different runways," said Jim Bothwell, chief executive officer of STAT MedEvac, who witnessed the crash.
Bothwell readied three other medical helicopters when he was notified by emergency personnel that the aircraft was in trouble. STAT MedEvac, an emergency medical airlift service, also is headquartered at the airport.
Attempts to land failed and the aircraft started spinning out of control at an altitude of more than 100 feet, said Bothwell.
The copter came down on a grassy field near the runway, purposely guided there by the pilot for a lesser impact, said David Franc, vice president/business development of Corporate Jets, which operates the helicopter for Parkview Health System in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Corporate Jets, a 30-year-old company based at the Allegheny County Airport, operates 75 medical helicopters around the country. It also provides maintenance for Pittsburgh's STAT MedEvac fleet.
The helicopter that crashed, a Eurocopter Dauphin AS 365 N1 with two turbines, was in Pittsburgh for routine maintenance. The tail rotor problem had not been found prior to yesterday's maintenance test run, said Franc.
The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the incident.
The helicopter was 10 years old and in excellent condition, said Pietropaulo. He said it is a very sophisticated and safe helicopter.
Aircraft personnel at the site said that the tail rotor is not as vital when the helicopter is traveling at a higher speed, but is critical when slowing down to land. The helicopter was not out of fuel, said Pietropaulo.
"The pilot tried different approach speeds to see if he could control the landing," said Pietropaulo. "The helicopter came down flat. We're thankful that no one was critically injured."
"Herb did a heroic job of getting the aircraft down and saving the crew," said Franc.
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