Bolt was missing on police helicopter that crashed in South Carolina, report says

A police helicopter that crashed at a South Carolina airport was missing a bolt that must had been got rid of and reinstalled right through repairs about six weeks previous, federal officers mentioned in a report.

A 2nd bolt on the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office helicopter additionally was free and the pilot, who survived, instructed investigators he felt like his foot controls to transport the plane’s tail rotors were not running, consistent with the initial report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

“It felt as though the pedals weren’t hooked up,” the pilot said.

The tail rotor is key to keeping the helicopter stable and steering it. About 35 minutes into the Aug. 1 flight from Sumter to Charleston, the pilot reported the helicopter wanted to keep pulling to the right, according to the report.

The pilot declared an emergency and tried to land at the Charleston International Airport. Surveillance video from the airport showed as the helicopter hovered about 20 feet (6 meters) from the ground, it pulled right, rose, then plunged into the ground

The helicopter had been to a shop in Sumter, which was not named in the report, twice for maintenance in the past six weeks.

On June 28, the missing bolt and the bolt that was loose because a pin was missing were both supposed to be removed and reinstalled, the report said.

The helicopter flew for about 15 hours before the pilot took it back to Sumter for more maintenance on the day of the crash.

The pilot, Charleston County sheriff’s Lt. Scott Martray, has been with the company since 2006 and is the manager pilot for the sheriff’s place of business. He was launched from the sanatorium an afternoon after the crash.