Personal Injury Law

Missouri Helicopter Crash Sunday Evening at Lake of the Ozarks Kills Eureka Boy

By Ryan Bradley, Esq.

On May 25, 2008, a MD500E helicopter crashed around 7:20 p.m. in Sunrise Beach, Missouri within Camden County. The helicopter was landing at a lakeside residence after a short sightseeing tour around the Lake of the Ozarks, when it suddenly spun out of control and barrel rolled into the water. Five people were on board, including 9-year-old Zachary West of Eureka, Missouri, who died in this tragic crash. Divers recovered his body at 10 a.m. the following day trapped inside the wreckage.

Four others, including the pilot, escaped as the MD-500 helicopter rolled into the water. The pilot was identified as Keith Baker, 50, of Sunrise Beach, MO. His passengers included his son, Nick Baker, 13, along with his friend Michael Barth, 13, and Anna Bierman, 24, of Macks Creek, MO. Each of them jumped from the helicopter after it hit the water and swam to shore.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the accident. The MD-500 helicopter is manufactured by McDonnell Douglas and is considered a light helicopter, largely used in the civilian sector and modeled after the military Hughes chopper.

An eerily similar incident occurred in 1997 near Guam when the cyclic trim switch malfunctioned in an MD-500, which caused the pilot to lose control of the helicopter and barrel roll into the water. In that incident, one of the two passengers was killed. It was determined the helicopter's cyclic trim switch was field modified and this is what caused the crash. Interestingly, this switch was the subject of a mandatory service notice for MD-500s in 1994, requiring replacement of the trim switch due to reports the switch was sticking. However, the switch was a non-repairable item, which called into question why the switch was taken apart. The NTSB cited operator failure to comply with the safety bulletin and flying with an equipment discrepancy as the causes of the Guam crash.

In the Lake of the Ozarks crash, it is expected the cyclic trim switch will be looked at to determine if it played any role in this crash. The pilot will undoubtedly be the best source of what went wrong and will be able to point investigators in the right direction.

In aviation cases, it is extremely important to determine the cause of each and every accident so it does not happen again.

The Bradley Law Firm handles aviation matters, including jet and prop planes as well as helicopter cases. If you have questions about these types of cases, please contact us.

Full post as published by Missouri Accident Lawyer Blog on May 26, 2008 (boomark / email).