Report Says Copter Pilot Probably Caused Fatal Crash

Helicopter pilot and cartoon voice-artist Noel Blanc probably caused the midair crash that killed stunt pilot Lee Manelski and flying student David Tomlinson at the Santa Paula Airport last year, according to a federal report released Wednesday.

Blanc disagreed with the finding Wednesday, calling the crash “a 100% pure accident.” He added, “It’s happenstance, it’s fate.”

The National Transportation Safety Board released its final report on the probable cause of the Feb. 13, 1991, crash that killed the two men and injured Blanc and his passengers--actor Kirk Douglas and Beverly Hills police officer Michael Carra, who acted as co-pilot.

The report found that the crash’s probable cause was “inadequate visual lookout” by Blanc in the Bell JetRanger helicopter, “which resulted in his failure to see and avoid” the Pitts S-2A stunt plane carrying Manelski and Tomlinson.

However, the report said that limited visibility from inside the stunt plane was “a factor related to the accident.”

The crash took place at Santa Paula Airport, a general aviation field on the southern edge of Santa Paula where pilots, not air traffic controllers, take responsibility for avoiding collisions.

According to the NTSB report, the crash happened as the airplane was taking off from the runway and the helicopter was lifting off from an adjacent helipad.

Blanc told investigators that, after lifting off, he hover-taxied to the runway, the report said. There, he said, he visually checked the runway and, after about 10 seconds, began his departure.

Blanc’s flight path then merged with the airplane’s takeoff path, and the two collided in midair, the report said.

The NTSB report said visibility from the airplane would have been restricted while its tail wheel was still on the runway. It also said that aircraft parked alongside the runway could have further restricted the view between the approach end of the runway and the helipad.

Blanc said he, Carra and Douglas all looked out at the runway during takeoff, and did not see the airplane.

“We were already facing west and hovering,” when the crash occurred, Blanc said. “We don’t have eyes in the back of our head. It’s a perfectly choreographed accident with catastrophic results, and they were terrible. Nobody would want that to happen.”

The Federal Aviation Administration filed an order on Aug. 23, 1991, suspending Blanc’s license for 180 days on charges that he failed to see and avoid other aircraft, that he operated his craft in a careless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another, and that he operated his craft so close to another craft as to risk a collision.

The FAA investigators exonerated Manelski of blame, ruling that the crash occurred because Blanc’s chopper lifted off directly into the path of Manelski’s stunt plane.

Blanc said he appealed the charges to the NTSB, where an administrative law judge reduced the suspension to 90 days. However, Blanc appealed it further to the NTSB itself in Washington, D.C., where his case is still working its way through the appeals process, he said.

Officials said that if the appeals fail, the suspension will take effect.