Pilot Blamed In Crash That Killed Leland Girl

A top official with the National Transportation Safety Board say it was the pilot’s fault when a helicopter crash killed a one-year old Leland girl.

In a public report, NTSB Vice Chairman Christopher Hart says “seeing and avoiding obstacles is solely and exclusively the responsibility of the pilot”.  An earlier report put some of the blame on the air traffic controller for not alerting the pilot that he was on course to hit a radio tower.

An Air Angels helicopter went down October 15^th after hitting the tower near Aurora.  On board was one-year old Kristin Blockinger of Leland.  She was being flown from Sandwich to Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. The pilot, a nurse and paramedic were also killed in the crash.

Blockinger’s family has filed wrongful death lawsuits against the pilot and the helicopter company.