Local helicopter companies sue government over crash they blame on incompetent FAA inspector

SJ Rotorcraft and Blue Hill Helicopters, based at Norwood Airport, want the government to reimburse them for the cost of a chopper totaled during in a crash on a flight during which one of their prospective pilots was being tested by an FAA inspector.

In a suit filed yesterday in US District Court, the companies allege the inspector, who they say was not qualified to fly the craft himself, put the helicopter into a simulated power loss that turned into a real power loss during the May, 2010 flight from Hanscom Field in Bedford to Minuteman Field in Stow. The goal was to certify the pilot as a flight instructor.

And when the pilot managed to steer the helicopter toward a road on which to land, the inspector took the controls and instead crashed it into some trees, which killed him, seriously injured the pilot and totaled the helicopter, the companies charge.

The companies say that had the inspector had more experience with the specific type of helicopter, he would have known its manufacturer warned against the way he simulated an engine failure - because it could cause a real engine failure - and that he should never have attempted it so far away from an airport or other suitable emergency landing area.

The companies are seeking to be reimbursed for the $285,000 cost of the helicopter, the costs of recovering what was left of it and the loss of revenue from not having the helicopter.