Engine Ruled Out as ‘Airwolf’ Crash Cause

The engine of the stunt helicopter that crashed near Newhall Jan. 18 during filming of the television series “Airwolf” has been dismantled and found to be in proper working order, a federal safety inspector said Friday.

Alan Crawford, National Transportation Safety Board senior inspector, acknowledged that pilot error continues to be the most likely explanation for the crash, in which stuntman Reid Rondell, 22, of Canoga Park was burned to death.

“Certainly the evidence points in that direction,” Crawford said, “but that doesn’t mean for sure that that will be the final result of our investigation. We’re not ready to lay the blame on the pilot yet.”

Investigators had previously ruled out malfunction of the craft itself.

Pilot Out of Hospital

Pilot Scott Maher, 36, who was pulled from the craft shortly before it burst into flames, has been discharged from the Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital and is recuperating at home, said his employer, Peter J. McKernan Jr., vice president of Jetcopters Inc. of Van Nuys.

Maher suffered several broken bones and a head injury and “still can’t remember a thing about the crash,” said McKernan.

McKernan said Maher, a veteran pilot who is expected to return to flying in about four months, “doesn’t want to believe it was his fault, although he’s aware that that is what their (investigators’) thinking is. But he’s prepared for either result, that it was the craft or that he was to blame.”

‘A Change of Heart’

Crawford said investigators decided to dismantle the engine after saying a month ago they were satisfied it was working, because “we had a change of heart,” he said. “We decided to make every effort to find out if there wasn’t some mechanical explanation for this crash.”

Other possibilities that have not been ruled out are the presence of toxic fumes in the cabin and the possibility that the sun blinded the pilot just before impact, Crawford said.

He said that an upcoming toxicology report on Rondell should clear up the question of toxic fumes.

Several eyewitnesses must still be interviewed before the possibility of the sun playing a role in the accident can be dismissed, he said.

Filming Stock Footage

Witnesses say the crash occurred without warning at mid-morning on a clear day while Maher was piloting the helicopter at about 85 m.p.h. about 200 feet above gently rolling terrain.

McKernan, whose company owned the downed helicopter, said the craft was being filmed to provide stock footage to be used in the action-adventure series, which stars Jan Michael-Vincent as pilot of a high-tech helicopter used on perilous missions for an unnamed government agency.

McKernan, who has participated in the crash investigation, said that on a “difficulty scale of 1 to 10, this sequence was less than a 1. That’s why we have such trouble accepting that it was Scott’s fault.”