Chopper Pilot in Kentucky Crash Likely Disoriented

The National Transportation Safety Board has determined that a medical helicopter crashed in southeastern Kentucky last year killing three people probably because the pilot became disoriented in patchy fog.

The board’s probable cause report this week said it could not determine the visibility the helicopter encountered on June 6, 2013, as the crew returned to Manchester after ferrying a patient to London. But witness statements and reported weather conditions indicated that patchy fog had developed.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reported the NTSB said the pilot probably became disoriented after running into conditions that would have required flying by instruments rather than by sight.

Killed were the pilot, 61-year-old Eddy Sizemore, a former Laurel County sheriff’s deputy; 40-year-old flight paramedic Herman “Lee” Dobbs of London; and 28-year-old flight nurse Jesse Jones of Pineville.