https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/aviation/2021/04/13/ntsb-heli-ski-pilot-was-maneuvering-over-a-chugach-mountain-ridge-just-before-crash-that-killed-5/?utm_medium=email&email=124609826%2f%3futm_medium%3demail&email=124609826&utm_source=second-street&utm_campaign=Heli-ski+pilot+was+maneuvering+over+a+Chugach+mountain+ridge+just+before+crash+that+killed+5

NTSB: Heli-ski pilot was maneuvering over a Chugach mountain ridge just before crash that killed 5

From the link...
The pilot of a helicopter that crashed last month in the Chugach Mountains, killing five people and leaving one survivor, was maneuvering over a ridge for several minutes before impact, according to the first report on the accident by federal investigators.

The men were on a half-day heli-ski trip in the backcountry above Knik Glacier, authorities say.

A data track from the helicopter indicates that the group had already taken off and landed in the mountains near the glacier several times, and may have been looking for a spot to set down.

The crash of the Airbus AS350B3 about 21 miles southeast of Palmer killed the Soloy Helicopters pilot, two highly respected guides and two Europeans, including a billionaire considered one of the wealthiest men in Europe.

A lone survivor waited for hours for rescue inside the snow-filled helicopter.

[Medical condition improves for lone survivor of heli-ski crash that killed 5 in Chugach Mountains]

The National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report released Tuesday provides no insight into what may have caused the March 27 crash. Any finding will take months as investigators piece together information from interviews, data recorders and wreckage.

Instead, it summarizes what investigators know so far: The group took off from a rental house on Wasilla Lake. The trip was booked through Tordrillo Mountain Lodge but the group hadn’t yet arrived there, lodge representatives have said.

The helicopter was flying multiple legs for several hours that Saturday afternoon, typical for a heli-ski trip with numerous runs.

Still going with downdraft, wind sheer, or engine hiccup.

No report on what the survivor told the investigators.

I clipped most of the story... he said they hovered for about five minutes along the ridge line before the crash. The crash impact (I assume they were talking rotor impact) was about 20' below the ridge. I suspect pilot error, misjudging the light.

Thanks.

The pilots father was who I went with taking this 32 foot Bristol bay boat from Los'Anchorage across Iliamna Lake and down to Naknek just after Zackary Russell was born. I would sometimes babysit Zackary and his older brother.

I flew in that chopper many times. It had a pretty good rotor strike in 2017 at the Gold mine I was working at. Prayers for the families of those lost.

Sorry for your loss. I didn’t know him but I have friends who grew up with him and spoke well of him.

I am curious though, why didn’t you share that in the other thread?

I don’t think it’s been released.

“According to international media, the lone survivor, 48-year-old Czech Republic resident David Horvath, told a colleague of Kellner’s that there was no sign of a technical failure, and that instead, weather and landing conditions may have played a role.

Johnson declined to say whether Horvath shared similar information with investigators, saying NTSB policy is to not release that information until the final report comes out.”

The ktuu article (not surprisingly) is better.

https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2...adly-helicopter-crash-near-knik-glacier/

That article was a beautiful tribute. Zach sounds like an amazing man and one whose loss diminishes us all.

May he RIP and may the Good Lord comfort his family and his (obviously) huge circle of friends! He appears to be a young man that fostered more caring and love into his <too> few years than many old men combined.

The conditions and anomalies present in the mountains are too numerous to speculate as to the cause but throw in the anti-gravitational proclivity of helicopters and the variables are exponential. I’d go out on a limb and say that it wasn’t carelessness....

I hate to be cliche but it seems like Zach is the personification of a man that died doing what he loved while living his dream.