Report: Aeromed crash 'pilot error'

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Federal crash investigators say the probable cause of last May's air ambulance crash on the roof of a Spectrum hospital building downtown is pilot error.

Specifically the final National Transportation Safety Board report on the crash cites "the pilot's failure to maintain tail rotor obstacle clearance from a tower during take off."

The air ambulance was destroyed by the crash and subsequent fire. The pilot and a Federal Aviation Administration inspector were on board and both escaped with serious injuries. The pilot was undergoing a routine proficiency check.

As the helicopter lifted off the pad on top of the 10-story hospital it apparently backed into a nearby 40' high antenna tower, shattering the tail rotor against a security camera mounted about halfway up the tower. That tower and other smaller obstacles were mounted on top of a 32' high elevator penthouse next to the helipad.

Since the crash, those towers have been removed from the roof, the helipad has been enlarged and up-to-date fire supression equipment has been added.