Pilot error cited in fatal helicopter crash after NASCAR race

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) -- Both helicopter pilots made errors in a deadly midair collision following a 2005 NASCAR race, federal investigators said.<br/> <br/>One pilot was flying a six-seat Eurocopter

Friday, February 2nd 2007, 6:24 pm

By: News On 6

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) -- Both helicopter pilots made errors in a deadly midair collision following a 2005 NASCAR race, federal investigators said.

One pilot was flying a six-seat Eurocopter with a burned-out landing light, making his craft more difficult to see, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday. He died in the collision.

That helicopter, operated by Heliflight Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, arrived from the west. The other helicopter, a six-seat Aerospatiale operated by Biscayne Helicopters of Miami, approached from the southeast.

The pilot of that helicopter, who survived the crash, failed to stay clear of the normal landing path at the raceway, the federal safety board said.

The race track also failed to hold a safety briefing for the pilots, the board said.

The pilots were landing to pick up passengers after the NASCAR championship race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway and were the only people on board.

"I kind of feel that the report is incomplete," Daryl Martin, Biscayne's president, said Friday. "The report stated our pilot didn't follow procedures, but he did."

Martin said he would try to contact the NTSB to see whether he could rectify the report.

Heliflight officials could not be reached for comment. The company no longer has a listed telephone number or a Web site.

Track officials did not immediately return telephone and e-mail messages.