NTSB releases report detailing Knik Glacier helicopter crash

PALMER — The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report on the helicopter accident near the Knik Glacier on March 27 that killed five people in a heli-skiing accident.

The report provided a timeline of events that led up to the crash that left five people dead and one survivor. Clients David Horvath, Benjamin Larochaix and Petr Kellner arrived on Wasilla Lake to depart with crew members Zach Russell, Sean McManamy and Greg Harms at 2:50 p.m. on March 27. The helicopter departed from Wasilla Lake at 3:43 and landed 19 minutes later at the destination in the Chugach Mountains near the Knik Glacier. The NTSB report details that multiple legs were flown to pick up and drop off the clients, departing at 4:12 and 6:07 p.m.

The charter flight departed again at 6:27 p.m. and climbed to 5,900 feet. The final movements of the helicopter prior to the crash were at 6:33 p.m. over a ridgeline at 6,266 feet before the remnants of the helicopter descended to the crash site at 6:35 p.m.

“An aerial assessment of the accident site by a National Transportation Safety Board investigator the day after the accident revealed that the helicopter impacted terrain about 15 to 20 ft below the top of a ridge line. The total debris field extended about 900 ft downslope from the top of the ridge line,” reads the NTSB report.

The Helicopter was an Airbus AS350-B3 and the wreckage was located at 9:30 p.m.