A mechanical problem might be responsible for the helicopter wreck that killed one man and injured another Wednesday near Strawberry Reservoir.
The Bell 47 helicopter may have experienced a mechanical failure in the flight control system, or its main rotor blades may have struck a tree, said Norm Wiemeyer, chief of the National Transportation Safety Board's office in Denver.Shane Cornwall, 38, Payson, a state wildlife control officer, died in the crash about seven miles south of the reservoir in Wasatch County. Helicopter pilot Allen H. Carter, 57, of Minersville, Beaver County, was treated for cuts and scrapes at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo and released Thursday. The pair were in the air hunting coyotes that the Utah Department of Agriculture said were preying on sheep in the area.
Wiemeyer, who spoke with Carter Thursday, will inspect the wreckage once conditions permit removal of the helicopter. A heavy-lift helicopter might be able to move the mangled chopper sometime next week, Wiemeyer said.
Wiemeyer said Carter told him the helicopter was going down a draw or ravine. Carter told Wiemeyer that when he pulled the helicopter up and tried to turn, he "lost control of it after hearing a loud noise." The helicopter then slammed into the side of the draw.
Weather did not appear to be a factor in Wednesday's crash, Wiemeyer said. Visibility appeared to be good in the area at the time the helicopter went down, he said. Based on initial interviews with Carter, investigators do not believe the chopper experienced problems with its engine or tail rotor.
Wiemeyer's office is also investigating the crash of a medical helicopter in Little Cottonwood Canyon that killed four people Sunday night. That investigation is stalled due to unstable conditions at the crash site, he said.
Carter, a 25- to 30-year veteran pilot, operates Skyhawk Helicopter Service from his home in a canyon five miles outside Minersville. Federal and state government officials contract with Carter for predator control and wild horse roundups, a job that requires flying as close as 300 feet from the ground. Carter declined a request for an interview.
Lyle Carter, the pilot's nephew, said Carter is very particular about following government guidelines for altitude and speed. "I'm pretty sure something like this had to be mechanical," he said.
"He's an exceptional, exceptional pilot," said Lyle Carter, who often accompanies his uncle in a fuel truck. The helicopter requires refueling every three hours, he said.
Allen Carter's wife, Jean, drove the truck Wednesday. She became concerned when her husband didn't arrive at the designated refueling spot about 2 p.m., Lyle Carter said.
"We were notified he was missing when he was three hours late for refueling," he said.
Lyle Carter said government agencies rely on Allen Carter almost exclusively because he's the "safest and does the best job." Carter has flown for the government in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah.
Bill Fails, a longtime friend of Allen Carter's, said the pilot's two helicopters underwent annual government inspections at the end of November. Fails, who has flown with Carter many times, called him a "meticulous" pilot. He's never had so much as a near miss in all his years of flying, Fails said.
Fails said Carter has great relationships with all the government trappers with whom he frequently flies.
"I'm sure he's heartbroken," Fails said from the Chevron station he runs in Minersville. "I'm sure that was a good friend flying with him."