The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says the pilot is to blame for a LIFE FORCE helicopter crash in March. The pilot was transporting a patient from Andrews, North Carolina to Erlanger hospital in Chattanooga on March 9 when he decided to put the helicopter on autopilot and go “heads down” to review a log book. The pilot had dialed 5,000 feet altitude into the autopilot program. When the flight nurse asked him how long the flight would take, the pilot says he looked up, and saw the helicopter was heading straight for a tree-covered peak. The copter crashed in the woods in Macon County, North Carolina, just 10 minutes after taking off. Amazingly, the three crew members and one patient on board all survived with only minor injuries.
