Fed Board Rules on Helicopter Crash

The National Transportation Board (NTSB) has issued its final ruling on the circumstance surrounding the crash of Maryland State Police helicopter in Sept. 2008, and the dispatchers for the state police and Prince George’s County were cited for insufficient training and failing to follow procedures after the accident, leading to a delay in locating the downed aircraft. The helicopter was on a medical mission in low clouds with five persons on-board, and was attempting to find its way down to land at Andrews Air Force Base. The chopper crashed into a Maryland suburb, killing all but one of the occupants. According to the NTSB, “The lack of adherence to effective flight-tracking policies by Maryland State Police System Communications Center personnel created an institutional mindset that allowed duty officers to assume that aircraft had landed safely when the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast signal was lost; over time, safe landings were taken for granted.” The NTSB issued several recommendations, including additional training for dispatchers. Read materials about the incident and the NTSB’s report: the incident abstract / incident presentations / list of all documents