ELBA, N.Y. — After a year of investigating, the National Transportation Safety Board released its final report from the Mercy Flight of WNY crash in Elba that killed a pilot and flight instructor in that Genesee County community back in 2022. .
According to the report, the National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of the accident to be "The pilots’ inappropriate flight control inputs while in vortex ring state, which resulted in main rotor blade contact with the tail boom and a subsequent in-flight breakup. Also causal was the flight instructor’s inadequate monitoring of the flight."
Scott Wooten, who is the Executive Vice President of Mercy Flight of Western New York, told 2 On Your Side "Certainly no one will ever know exactly what happened in the cockpit that afternoon. But what we do know is it was a great tragedy and two great men lost their lives."
The crash resulted in the deaths of two pilots, James Sauer, 60, of Churchville, NY, and Bell Helicopter instructor Stewart Dietrick, 60, of Prosper, Texas who were out for an instructional flight from the Batavia Airport on April 26, 2022.
The investigation findings mention several personnel issues including aircraft control, talk monitoring, and delayed action. The only aircraft finding was the main rotor blade system's capability was exceeded. Otherwise the NTSB determined there were no real mechanical or technical issues with the Bell 429 helicopter which crashed.
The final report was released to the public on December 6. It includes more analysis from the flight instructor's first training flight when the helicopter developed a high rate of descent. That pilot was able to get out of the descent on his own without guidance from the instructor. Analysis from the second flight, which was the accident flight, details that after going into vortex ring state (VRS) several abrupt control inputs were recorded. The report says it's likely that "these abrupt control inputs resulted in the main rotor blades contacting the tail boom and the subsequent in-flight breakup of the helicopter."
Wooton explained "The procedure that was being performed was an emergency procedure. It's unlike anything we've ever experienced during one of our missions. But you need to be prepared."
NTSB did release a preliminary report in May of 2022 that detailed a catalog of the helicopter's actions.
Eyewitnesses at the scene said the helicopter "fell apart" with the fuselage, the central part of the helicopter, falling separately from the tail. Another reported hearing a "whooshing" noise" from the engine, then "three loud and rapid cracks."
A Bell Helicopter spokesperson released this statement "All of us at Bell are extremely saddened by the accident that resulted in the loss of two pilots, including one of our Bell teammates. Out of respect for the privacy of the families involved, we are unable to answer questions or share additional information."
Wooton says there is some solace for his organization now that Mercy Flight can fly its life-saving missions with a fleet of four helicopters since two new helicopters were added. One of the new air ambulances has a tribute with the name of James Sauer on the fuselage.
You can read the full final report here: