Aircraft Was Ferrying Firefighters In Northern California

The cockpit voice recorder transcript from a helicopter that crashed while ferrying firefighters in Northern California has been released, and the device clearly caught the copilot asking his aircraft to fly.

The recording, released Wednesday, shows captain Roark Schwanenberg, exclaiming: "Oh, God.", then copilot William Coultas swore, and began pleading with the aircraft to regain power. "Fly darlin', fly darlin', fly darlin', fly darlin' ...'," he said, as the Sikorksy S-61N lost power and altitude.

The Associated Press reports the flight had been airborne for less than a minute when the aircraft lost power to the main rotor. It was ferrying 11 firefighters away from a wildfire in the area when it went down. Nine of the 13 people on board, including captain Schwanenberg lost their lives. Coultas was among the survivors.

The aircraft had made two prior evacuation trips from the region before it went down. AP reports that an NTSB examination of the engine found tiny bits of contamination lodged in an engine fuel control valve which caused the valve to bind or seize. The aircraft had experienced power fluctuations on previous flights, the report said.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov