Thrill Ride Blamed in Helicopter Crash

An Army helicopter crash in June that killed all 10 soldiers aboard resulted from an “unauthorized maneuver” by an experienced pilot who was out to give his passengers a thrill ride, Army officials said Tuesday.

“The crew exceeded their flying abilities and the limitations of the aircraft,” the Army’s investigative report said. “They violated normal operating procedures when they conducted low-altitude, high-speed, steep turns.”

Barry Morris, a spokesman at Ft. McPherson, Ga., where the report was released, said the pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Robert E. Fisher, 42, was making attack maneuvers.

Morris had made one pass over a fictional target, put the UH-1H helicopter into a steep climb and at the pinnacle slammed the aircraft into a 180-degree turn, then went into a dive that ended in the crash, the report said.

Because the maneuver was started at too low an altitude, the helicopter’s tail rotor hit a tree, and the aircraft broke apart and slammed into the ground at a force 100 times the force of gravity, the report said.