Duke helicopter pilot may have shut off wrong engine before fatal crash, NTSB says

The pilot of a Duke Life Flight helicopter that crashed in Hertford County in 2017 may have accidentally shut off one of the aircraft’s engines just before the second malfunctioning engine failed, according to federal investigators.

The helicopter came down in a ditch between two fields near Belvidere, about 12 miles from Elizabeth City, killing all four people on board. They included the pilot, Jeff Burke, two flight nurses and a patient they were flying from Sentara Albemarle Medical Center in Elizabeth City to Duke University Hospital in Durham.

The crash happened about 11:20 a.m. on Sept. 8, 2017. Not long after take off, bearings in one of the aircraft’s two engines seized up, according to a report from the National Transportation Safety Board. The No. 2 engine continued to run, but investigators say the problem would have created “multiple and likely unexpected and confusing cockpit indications.”

Specifically, the report says, the pilot might have concluded that the No. 1 engine was creating much less torque than the malfunctioning No. 2 and decided to shut it down.

Investigators say the throttle control for the undamaged No. 1 engine was found in the “off” position, while the throttle for the damaged one was still in the “flight” position.

“This evidence indicated that the pilot likely shut down the No. 1 engine and that the helicopter continued to fly for some time with power being provided only by the No. 2 engine,” the NTSB report says.

When the No. 2 engine failed a short time later, the helicopter crashed, the report says. Investigators say they could not determine exactly what caused the No. 2 engine to lose all power.

Investigators say it’s possible Burke was trying to make an emergency landing when the crash occurred. Witnesses reported that the helicopter appeared to be under control and hovering about 300 feet in the air when it dropped to the ground and burst into flames.

The NTSB says that height was too low for Burke to make an emergency landing using autorotation, or the upward draft of the wind to turn the helicopter’s blades.

The helicopter had a flight data recorder, but investigators found no usable information on it, according to the NTSB report. The battery appeared to have expired, the report says.

Investigators say the lack of flight data makes determining exactly what happened in what order in the cockpit impossible. They drew their conclusions based on close examination of the engines, switches in the cockpit and other equipment as well as knowledge of what indicator lights and displays would have shown as the No. 2 engine malfunctioned.

Burke, a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, was 51 and living in Clayton when he died. Also killed were flight nurses Kristopher Harrison and Crystal Sollinger and their patient Mary Bartlett.