A Rancho Santa Fe man was at the controls of a helicopter when it pitched and spun violently in a landing attempt two years ago. Investigators have concluded the pilot was impaired by prescription medications at the time of the crash.
Pilot Bruce Allen Erickson, 65, of Rancho Santa Fe, was killed alongside friend and passenger Wayne Lewis, 60, on Nov. 18, 2015, when their helicopter spun out of control and caught fire while landing at McClellan Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, California.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released the conclusion of its investigation into the fiery crash in December.
Investigators found that Erickson lost control of the helicopter while attempting to land on a dolly. Images from a surveillance camera were attached to the final NTSB report and show the helicopter tail striking the ground when the helicopter landed short of the dolly.
When comparing onboard video taken from inside the helicopter, the helicopter pitched up and rotated 180 degrees before the tail struck the ground again, according to the NTSB report.
As the blades of the chopper continued to rotate, the aircraft spun.
"The helicopter spun on its belly at a rate of about one revolution per second for more than 5 minutes, while gradually sliding about 530 ft along the ramp," the NTSB report states.
Both the pilot and passenger became incapacitated during the collision. The cause of death for both men was multiple internal injuries, according to the County Medical Examiner's Office.
Erickson's judgment was impaired due to his use of a combination of prescription medicine, NTSB officials concluded.
NTSB investigators also said Erickson had recently bought the helicopter and told several people he was having trouble mastering the aircraft. He had decided to fly the helicopter without an instructor despite multiple flight instructors' advice not to do so.
Editor’s Note: NBC 7’s story wrongly identified the pilot in this crash as Wayne Lewis. The National Transportation Safety Board said the pilot was Lewis’ friend, Bruce Allen Erickson, who was impaired by prescription drugs at the time of the crash. Lewis was the passenger. We regret the error and apologize to Lewis’ family for the mistake.
