The Topeka Capital-Journal April 19, 2008
Copter report offers little insight
Still to be turned in is trooper's narrative of crash
By Steve Fryr
The Kansas Highway Patrol released a two-page "aircraft accident report" late Friday about the April 4 crash landing of the Topeka police helicopter.
But the two-page "Kansas Highway Patrol aircraft accident report" had no new information about the crash that destroyed the police department's four-person helicopter.
The only information on the report that wasn't already public was the ages of police officer William Wempe, the pilot, officer Darren Campbell, the co-pilot, and the passenger, Greg Mitchell.
Wempe is 42, and Campbell is 33. Mitchell, of Santee, Calif., is 42, the report said. Mitchell is a civilian who is a relative of Campbell, police said Thursday.
Police said the department's Robinson R44 Raven II helicopter apparently had a mechanical failure, lost power and struck a light pole during an emergency descent in a parking lot at Washburn University just southwest of S.W. 17th and Washburn. No one was injured.
Trooper Daniel McCollum arrived at the crash site 15 minutes after the helicopter hit the ground, then began his investigation, according to his report.
Herman Jones, records custodian for the highway patrol and a former trooper, said the report's narrative hadn't been turned in as of Friday. It is expected to be delivered at patrol headquarters, S.W. 7th and Jackson, on Monday, he said.
"Our investigation is very preliminary," Jones said. The narrative reflects the trooper's interviews with on-the-scene eyewitnesses and "that an event happened."
It won't tell what caused the police helicopter to land as it did, Jones said.
That type of information would be included in the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation, he said.
On the NTSB Web site (www.ntsb.gov), an undated preliminary report of the accident said the helicopter was "substantially damaged after impacting a light pole during a precautionary landing" in the parking lot.
Wempe told a Federal Aviation Administration inspector that during the flight, the "engine over-speed warning light illuminated," the three-paragraph report said. The report said the pilot then did an auto rotation, and the main rotor struck the light pole. The craft made a "hard landing, coming to rest on its side," the NTSB report said.
Auto rotation is using the pushing flow of air through the rotor to create lift, allowing a pilot some controlled descent.
The NTSB report didn't define "overspeed," but the GlobalSecurity.org Web site defines overspeed as "RPM in excess of design (or) 100 percent RPM."
NTSB investigations can take months to complete. The investigation of the crash in which Col. Mike O'Toole, wing commander of the 190th Air Refueling Wing of the Kansas Air National Guard, was killed on Aug. 8, 2003, was completed almost a year later, according to the NTSB.
There was some confusion Friday at highway patrol headquarters about the two-page report's status.
Jones said at 8:45 a.m. the accident report would be delivered to headquarters some time on Friday. But by 5 p.m. when headquarters closed, the report hadn't arrived because the chain of command was looking at it, Jones said.
Jones called The Topeka Capital-Journal about 45 minutes later to say the two-page report was ready to be picked up.
© Copyright 2008, The Topeka Capital-Journal
