ORLANDO, Fla. — After an investigation that lasted more than a year, the National Transportation Safety Board determined that on March 22, 2015, a helicopter fell from the sky and crashed into a College Park home because of a faulty bolt.
In a final report released this week, the NTSB announced the cause of the crash that killed pilot Bruce Teitelbaum, his wife and a passenger.
Teitelbaum had just taken off from Orlando Executive Airport, but five minutes into the flight he contacted the control tower and asked to return, a NTSB report said.
Teitelbaum did not give the tower a reason for his request, the report said.
Multiple witnesses told investigators that moments later they heard a “loud helicopter flying low, which caught their attention,” the NTSB said.
They watched in horror as the helicopter’s rotors splintered when it crashed into a tree, tumbled into a power transformer, smashed into a two-story home and erupted into flames, the report said.
Carol Finch, who owned the home, built a whole new guest house after the helicopter crash more than a year ago, but she still can’t erase what she saw.
“Half the power pole flew across my swimming pool. I just kind of turned around and looked at it -- everything on fire,” Finch said.
About a week before the crash, a mechanic had completed maintenance on the Robinson R44II’s main rotor blades, the NTSB said.
The helicopter’s maintenance log book did not indicate the repair had been done, but a mechanic later told investigators that he “forgot” to enter the information into the log.
The bolt in question was connected one of the control tubes used to control the pitch of the main rotor blades, the NTSC said.
Due to the extent of the damage done to the helicopter in the crash and ensuing fire, the cause of the bolt failure could not be determined, the report said.