Helicopter company has a history of accidents
The low flying and tight maneuvering associated with agricultural work performed by Scott’s Helicopter Services Inc. carry inherent risks, the owner said.
Records from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) show that the helicopter company whose pilot died Wednesday in a Maplewood crash has had 17 accidents dating back to 1989, including two previous fatalities.
Many of the company’s crashes involved pilot error, from not refueling the aircraft to carrying an overly heavy load. Pilots flew into power lines on three occasions.
But the low flying and tight maneuvering associated with agricultural work performed by Scott’s Helicopter Services Inc. carry inherent risks, said the owner.
“When you consider we’re operating less than 50 feet from the ground … that’s not abnormal,” said Scott Churchill. “And with the size of the fleet, no, that’s not abnormal. Sometimes, things happen.”
Churchill’s fleet, based in Le Sueur, Minn., with a satellite office in Iowa, includes 26 helicopters and 25 pilots. It’s easily one of the largest operations of its kind in the Midwest and, possibly, the country. The average agricultural aviation outfit consists of about two aircraft, said Kenneth Degg, director of education and safety at the National Agricultural Aviation Association.
Churchill’s large fleet makes it difficult to gauge how serious the 17 accidents are in the scope of his company’s safety record, industry experts said. Scott’s Helicopter Services is a member of the NAAA.
“To me, that’s a fairly large number [of accidents], but that’s also a large number of aircraft, too,” Degg said.
Scott’s pilot, Michael P. Kramer, 44, died Wednesday when his helicopter crashed into a garage while treating mosquito larvae for the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District. The cause is under iinve
