A helicopter involved in a deadly crash earlier this month in Hillsborough County also made an emergency landing in a field four days before, according to a preliminary report from National Transportation Safety Board.
The April 4 crash killed a 72-year-old Plant City man riding in a pickup truck. A piece of a blade broke off and hit Deodat Persaud Gangapersaud after the helicopter suffered an engine failure. The crash happened near the intersection of 50th Street and Palm River Road in Palm River.
On March 31, a pilot was flying the helicopter from Naples Municipal Airport to the Cross City Airport. The engine lost power after an hour of flying at around 1,000 feet, according to the pilot.
According to the NTSB report, a Federal Aviation Administration inspector called the pilot on the morning of April 4 to tell him two mechanics from Florida Suncoast Helicopters were working on the chopper.
The report states the inspector left and asked mechanics to call after repairs were completed. The inspector also asked for mechanics to tell him what specific repairs were made to the helicopter.
After the maintenance was done, the report states the pilot got into the helicopter and hovered for several minutes without an issue. The pilot and a mechanic then boarded the helicopter to move it to Sarasota. The engine lost power again during the move, which prompted the hard landing on April 4 at the Palm River intersection.
The helicopter’s main rotator cut a telephone pole in half, the NTSB report states. The main rotator blades were broken at the tips and had a telephone cable cut down to the blades.
The helicopter was manufactured in 2019.
What other people are reading right now:
- Fire breaks out at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris
- Maine Marine shot and killed by fellow Marine on South Carolina base
- Family mourning woman and her daughters killed in domestic violence shooting
- USF police lip-sync their way to national TV
- Florida man sprays woman with squirt gun full of his own urine, police say
►Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the 10News app now.
Have a news tip? Email desk@wtsp.com, or visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.