Should Sheriff -- Or Aircraft Owner -- Be Prosecuted In
Deputy's Death?
In North Carolina,
Franklin County commissioners this week unanimously voted to ask
the district attorney for a criminal investigation into the death
of a deputy in a helicopter mishap more than a year ago.
As ANN reported in May, 2004, 53-year old Franklin
County Sheriff's Deputy Ted Horton was killed in the crash of
Hughes 269-A owned and flown by 33-year old Benjamin T. Barrick.
Barrick wasn't certificated to fly that aircraft.
The FAA doesn't require a public-use aircraft be flown by a
certificated pilot. But, as FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen pointed
out last year, "Ninety-nine percent of all public-use operators do
have pilots' certificates."
Then there's the issue of the helo itself -- which the NTSB
found wasn't properly cared for. A crack in the Hughes' tail boom
was found, an issue investigators blamed on metal fatigue.
The NTSB factual report
said:
A review of maintenance records revealed that the last recorded
annual inspection was completed on March 21, 2004, at an airframe
total time of 5,506.2 hours. On March 13, 1980, the FAA issued an
Airworthiness Directive (AD) 80-05-05 addressing Schweizer
Helicopters Model 269 series equipped with a tail boom center
support (saddle) fitting certificated in all categories. The AD was
issued to prevent fatigue failure of the tail boom center support
fitting and the resultant loss of the tailboom. A review of the
maintenance records dating back to March 13, 1980, found no logbook
entries that indicated the required inspections outlined in the AD
had been accomplished.
"There's an element of fraud there,” Franklin County
Commissioner Raymond Stone told News 14 Carolina. “We now
have the benefit of the National Transportation Safety Board, the
NTSB report and also the FAA report."
The aircraft was leased
from Barrick's company, NETSTAR. Now, commissioners are worried
that Sheriff Jerry Jones didn't go through proper channels in
leasing the aircraft.
Because the incident involves a law agency, the matter has been
referred to state investigators.
Did the sheriff commit a crime?
"No, I don't think he has committed any crimes,” said
Franklin County District Attorney Sam Currin. He said it will be up
to an SBI agent to investigate the case. “If he says that
they can't conduct the investigation or won't, then I’m not
going to prosecute."