Bird strike caused fatal Air Evac helicopter crash near Hydro, NTSB reports

The National Transportation Safety Board has released the cause the cause of a helicopter crash that killed three people in January of 2024 between Weatherford and Hydro, Oklahoma.

Pilot Russell Haslam, Flight Nurse Adam Tebben, and Flight Paramedic Steven Fitzgerald died when the Air Evac helicopter crashed on January 21 while returning to base after transporting a patient to Oklahoma City.

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According to the NTSB, the helicopter was flying at night when it hit a flock of geese at about "500-600 ft above ground level and at 110 knots groundspeed." Investigators said the impact caused an inflight breakup specifically with the "main rotor pitch change links, which were both fractured in overload."

The report aligns with previous reporting from the NTSB who said several geese carcasses were found in the debris field during their first surveys.

NTSB went on to note that based on the information available to the pilot, a potential risk for a bird strike would not have been detected.

"A review of military and civilian bird hazard websites showed that at the time of the accident, the probability of bird strike in that area was deemed to be low. In addition, historic migration data also estimated the probability of a bird strike at the time of the accident as low," reports NTSB.

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