NTSB Report: Operator Error Caused Fatal Medical Helicopter Crash

Inadequate monitoring by flight instructor and inappropriate flight control inputs during training exercise led to mid-flight break-up, killing two.

Operator error likely caused a medical helicopter to break apart mid-flight and crash during a training exercise last year, killing the pilot and flight instructor, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's final report.
The Mercy Flight helicopter was on its second training run of the day when it went down in a field in the western New York town of Elba in April 2022. No patients were on board.
Investigators cited the pilots' 'inappropriate flight control inputs' while practicing for an unstable condition known as vortex ring state. The errors caused the main rotor blade to make contact with the helicopter's tail, leading to the mid-flight break-up.
The flight instructor's 'inadequate monitoring of the flight' also contributed to the crash, the NTSB said.
Killed were pilot James Sauer of Churchville, a retired New York state police pilot, and Bell Helicopter instructor Stewart Dietrick, of Prosper, Texas.