NTSB Cites Lax Maintenance in Fatal UH-1B Crash

All six occupants died when the UH-1B 'Huey' hit power lines during an attempted forced landing following a loss of engine power.

Mark Phelps

Wednesday, August 28, 2024 at 04:57 PM ET

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Edited By: tccjeremy

[Credit: NTSB]

Key Takeaways:

The NTSB's final report on the fatal June 2022 West Virginia UH-1B helicopter crash attributed the engine power loss and subsequent accident to inadequate inspection procedures by the operator, Marpat Aviation.
A critical contributing factor was the FAA's "basically no oversight" of Marpat's maintenance operations and a lack of guidance for inspectors concerning aircraft with experimental airworthiness certificates.
Marpat Aviation likely would have discovered the fatigue cracks in the engine component if inspections had been more thorough, but new FAA maintenance standards from 2015 for experimental ex-military aircraft did not apply to the 2014-certified helicopter involved.

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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) final report was issued Wednesday on the fatal West Virginia crash of a Vietnam War-era Bell UH-1B helicopter on June 22, 2022.

According to the NTSB report, the accident was caused, in part, by inadequate inspection procedures by the operator, Marpat Aviation, and a lack of FAA oversight. All six occupants died when the UH-1B “Huey” hit power lines during an attempted forced landing following a loss of engine power.