Helicopter pilot bruised but home

With bumps and bruises, a Tennessee helicopter pilot has returned home, two weeks after plummeting to the ground in a Greenville cornfield while flying a helicopter equipped to trim trees near electrical lines.

His return to a Memphis suburb came as the National Transportation Safety Board published a preliminary crash report with new details about the engine failure that made for his hard landing just after 11 a.m. June 2.

“I’ll be back in the air in a few more months,” pilot Brian K. Lacks, 41, said by phone Friday, a day after getting home. “I want to thank all the local people ... for their thoughts and their prayers ... the EMS workers for their quick and timely response.”

Lacks, working for Aerial Solutions Inc., was flying a helicopter carrying a unique 10-blade dangling saw to trim trees for Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative.

After about 55 minutes, Lacks was preparing to land to refuel in an open cornfield near two homes on Cold Springs Road when he “heard a loud sound from the engine and the helicopter yawed to the left,” losing power, according to the NTSB report.

An instrument-check moments before had not raised alarm.

The dangling saw was already partially on the ground.

The helicopter yawed — a slide to the side without tipping — and the tail began to rotate. Lacks began corrective measures, tried to release the saw and attempted a controlled landing, but hit hard, according to the report.

“It sounded like he was doing everything right, to the extent that he could,” said Art Salatin, an authorized Federal Aviation Administration inspector and area aircraft mechanic who read the NTSB report. Salatin works at area airports.

“If you lose engine power you need to take immediate steps to gain flying speed where you can land,” Salatin said, describing the situation as similar to a maple seed spiraling to the ground. “He was really too close to the ground to do this auto rotation routine as he was coming down.”

The helicopter fell from about 100 feet, the report states.

During inspection of the engine, officials found a cracked exhaust collector and damage to a power turbine wheel and blades.

Salatin explained: Turbine wheels extract power for the helicopter. If they fail, blades are broken and thrown into the engine “like bullets,” causing power loss.

“With a helicopter, you’re actually increasing power to hover in for a landing,” Salatin said. “Any loss of power in a hover is going to be very significant.”

The crash was the fifth since 2001 involving two-seat Hughes 369D Rotorcraft helicopters owned by Aerial Solutions, according to NTSB reports. None of the crashes were fatal.

The engine parts described in the Greenville crash are not referenced in other company crashes.

Ted McAllister, general manager of Aerial Solutions in Tabor City, N.C., said his pilots have worked in 20 states since 1985.

“I wouldn’t want to fly for any other company,” said Lacks, who received his pilot certification in 2007, according to FAA records.

“I really enjoyed working for Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative and I look forward to working for them in the future,” Lacks said, describing how officials and rescuers have been supportive during his recovery. “That’s made it very special being in an area where they appreciate what we’re doing for for them: Trying to keep their lights on.”