West Virginia News
Jun 1, 2021
MIAMI (AP) Pilot error caused the helicopter crash that killed coal billionaire Chris Cline and six others in the Bahamas in 2019, federal officials said.
The two pilots’ decision to take off in the AgustaWestland AW139 over water in dark night conditions with no external visual reference resulted in spatial disorientation and the subsequent crash off the coast of Big Grand Cay, according to a report released Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Killed in the July 2019 crash were Cline, the two pilots, Cline’s adult daughter and three of her friends.
Investigators determined that the pilots were likely under external pressure from Cline, the aircraft’s owner, to complete the flight. Cline’s daughter and one of her friends were ill, and Cline wanted them taken from his private island to a Florida hospital, officials said.
(Bloomberg) Facing pressure to fly two sick people to the mainland, billionaire coal tycoon Christopher Cline’s helicopter pilots took off from his Bahamas…
The 2019 crash killed coal billionaire Chris Cline and six others.
Jun 1st, 2021
Chris Cline speaks with media as Marshall University dedicates the Chris Cline Athletic Complex, Huntington, W.Va., Sept. 6, 2014.
Sholten Singer/The Herald-Dispatch via AP, File
MIAMI (AP) Pilot error caused the helicopter crash that killed coal billionaire Chris Cline and six others in the Bahamas in 2019, federal officials said.
The two pilots’ decision to take off in the AgustaWestland AW139 over water in dark night conditions with no external visual reference resulted in spatial disorientation and the subsequent crash off the coast of Big Grand Cay, according to a report released Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board.