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Former Marine Corps Helicopter Pilot Cleared in Rare NTSB Reversal.
It has taken nearly 10 years but the widow of a former Marine One helicopter pilot, has finally convinced authorities that her husband was not to blame for the crash that killed him along with two passengers near an oil platform off Galveston, Texas.
Debbie Brown, who's husband Nate flew for presidents Reagan and Bush, never believed that her husband was at fault in the crash.
"Nate was a top-notch pilot but there was nothing he could do to save his passengers or himself when the helicopter started coming apart on landing," said Debbie Brown and in a just-released decision from the National Transportation Safety Board, accident investigators agreed.
The petition to the agency that investigates all U.S. aircraft fatalities was filed on Mrs. Brown's behalf by Andrew (Duke) Maloney, a partner with Kreindler & Kreindler, an aviation law firm based in New York and Los Angeles. In a rare reversal last week, the NTSB withdrew finding of pilot error by Nate Brown.
In 199? the Kreindler firm filed suit against Eurocopter, the French manufacturer of the AS-350 model known as the A-Star claiming previous accidents indicated mechanical defects in the aircraft. That case was eventually settled. What remained was the implication that Brown's piloting skills had contributed to the accident.
"It is very common to blame the pilot in aircraft accidents and sometimes it is warranted, but here, it was clearly unfair to Mr. Brown given the emergency he faced from the mechanical defects that arose during flight," Maloney of the Kreindler firm stated. His petition that the NTSB reconsider its finding of pilot error included exhibits, expert testimony and forensic evidence from the accident to prove that the aft section of the helicopter's tail boom, including its tail rotor, was severed from aircraft during flight due to a fractured bearing that controlled to pitch of the tail rotor blades.
"Without a tail rotor, you cannot control the aircraft. No pilot can. Its that simple." Mrs. Brown added, "I am satisfied and grateful that the NTSB reviewed the case not only because it cleared Nate but I hope it also prevents other similar accidents."
Mrs. Brown has been a vocal advocate of a proposed requirement to include flight data and cockpit voice recorders, known as the "black box" in all commercial aircraft, including helicopters. "If they would have had a black box on this helicopter, it would not have saved my dear husband, but it would have showed that he was not at fault and educated the aviation community about the dangers of this design flaw."
Mr. Maloney said, the NTSB's decision was courageous. "By admitting it was wrong the safety board also reiterates a commitment to ultimately getting it right."
Kreindler & Kreindler LLP, Tradition of Excellence, New York, New Jersey, Boston, Los Angeles.
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