An air traffic controller assisting the pilot in a fatal Maryland medevac helicopter crash land couldn’t see through the foggy control tower windows, according to investigative documents made public Thursday.
Federal aviation officials said air conditioning settings fogged the control tower windows at Andrews Air Force Base on the night of Sept. 27 “to the point where the controller was unable to see.” The controller lost contact with the pilot as the helicopter crashed in a wooded Prince George’s County park about two miles away, killing four.
The information is contained in volumes of crash investigation records released by the National Transportation Safety Board Thursday, including witness statements, grim photos and transcripts between the Maryland State Police pilot and air traffic controller. The records do not identify a cause of the crash, but include a memo from David Maddox, acting air traffic manager at Andrews Air Force Base, describing “lessons learned.”
“According to the NTSB in the outbriefing, the operations were casual and sloppy at all three facilities involved,” Maddox wrote “Complacency is dangerous.” The other airports he referred to are Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Princeton (N.J.) Airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration declined to make additional comment beyond Maddox’s memo, which also said a malfunctioning automated weather system gave pilot Stephen Bunker data that was five hours old.
According to transcripts, Bunker, flying in dense fog, was having problems receiving a signal to help him land. He asked the controller Teal Hyman to help with an “airport surveillance radar” approach, or turn-by-turn guidance, but Hyman said she was not trained to perform one.
Such approaches are not authorized on late-night shifts because staffing goes down to a single controller, Maddox wrote. But after reviewing records post-crash, he said the majority of Andrews’ air traffic controllers are not certified for ASR approaches.
State police spokesman Greg Shipley said experts are reviewing the records and await a final report, which is not expected for months — or years.
In addition to Bunker, 59, state trooper Mickey Lippy, 34, volunteer paramedic Tonya Mallard, 39, and patient Ashley Younger, 17, died. Fellow patient, 18-year-old Jordan Wells, survived.
The incident was the ninth emergency medical helicopter crash since December 2007, resulting in 35 deaths. NTSB officials have scheduled a four-day hearing next month to give the issue greater visibility.
Click here to view the public documents about the crash.
