
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 14, 1993                   TAG: 9307140184
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TALLADEGA, ALA.                                LENGTH: Medium

CHOPPER APPARENTLY OK

Federal investigators said they had found no evidence Tuesday of mechanical failure in the fatal crash of Davey Allison's helicopter, which came within inches of a successful landing.

Allison was attempting to land the chopper Monday in a fenced-in parking lot crossed by power lines when something went wrong, said Roff Sasser, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board.

The lot, beside an infield media center at Talladega Superspeedway, is 108 feet wide and 284 feet long. Allison's intended landing spot was about 25 feet away from the power lines, said Sasser.

Track president Mike Helton previously said helicopters do not normally land in the area.

Sasser quoted witnesses as saying the aircraft was only 6 inches off the pavement before it began to rise, stopping at about 25 feet. The craft then rocked sideways like a pendulum before spinning across a 12-foot-high fence and crashing.

"Witnesses stated the aircraft banked to the left" before crashing into the fence and hitting the ground, Sasser said. Of 10 witnesses who have talked to investigators, he said, only two saw the entire crash.

The Hughes 369-HS helicopter fell on its left side, where Allison was sitting, but it came to rest on the right side. Sasser said the engine continued running for several minutes after impact.

"In fact, they had a hard time shutting it down," he said during a news conference at the crash site.

Allison, who had owned the helicopter less than a month, died Tuesday morning of head injuries from the crash. His only passenger, veteran driver Red Farmer, was expected to remain hospitalized several days with broken ribs and a broken collarbone.

Sasser declined to speculate on the cause of the accident, saying the full NTSB would make a final determination in six months to a year.

The shattered helicopter remained at the track as Sasser took the media on a tour of the crash site.

Barbed wire was wrapped around the helicopter's tail rotor, which was separated from the fuselage. Two foot controls were broken off in front of the left front seat, where Allison was sitting.

Federal investigators have yet to talk with Farmer, Sasser said. Officials expect to finish their work at the track today.

Keywords:
AUTO RACING FATALITY

by CNB