Being First Doesn't Always Guarantee You Will Win

MikeD

Administrator
Staff member
I refuse to tiptoe through life, only to arrive safely at death.

7 December 1982
Larkspur, Colorado

Bell 206B, N2752Y "News4"
2 Fatal


Continuing in the MikeD Accident Synopsis Series, today I cover an accident which hits close to home; one of many in my life that have. I'll be covering more of these accidents in later reports that I write.

The world of television news and its on-air personalities is a tale all it's own and can be very dog-eat-dog when it comes to face time and popularity. Television news has a rich history of many firsts in the media genre, including women taking a center role and the challenges they've had in doing so. Cinema movies such as 2004s Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, although a comedy, highlight the challenge women have had breaking into the TV news field as frontline anchors. Beginning in the 1970s, women began to take a more active role many parts of television news, both behind the anchor desk as well as reporting from the field. Growing up in the PHX area myself, I got to see both the first appearance of the first female TV anchor for a Phoenix station in 1976 for then-CBS affiliate KOOL 10 (later KTSP-10 and now KSAZ-10, Fox affiliate). I got to see firsthand how the politics of the TV/radio world worked during my first flying job as a traffic pilot in PHX. One of the other firsts I got to witness in the Phoenix television news scene was the nation's first female TV helicopter pilot-reporter. In 1982, 28 year old Karen Key joined then KOOL-10 TV as their helicopter pilot-reporter for their Bell 206B, rivaling the then-powerhouse NBC Phoenix affiliate KPNX-12 and their longtime, very famous and nationally-known pilot-reporter Jerry Foster and his Hughes 500D. Key became a very popular personality in the Valley news scene, often covering the news quickly and efficiently, as well as assisting the local police during car chases and performing a few rescues in assistance to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, once a market cornered only by Foster. Very quickly, the helicopter became the staple and the symbol of a professional news organization in many markets, often appearing as the station's representative in commercials and billboards. I personally got to meet Key at a hospital open house I went to with my dad, and which she was attending with her helicopter, and even got to have my photo taken with her and the KOOL Bell 206B. In late 1982, Key moved from Phoenix to Denver, CO, where she joined NBC affiliate KOA-TV4 (now KCNC, CBS-4) as the pilot for their "News 4" helicopter.

On the night of 7 December, 1982, the 42nd anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, a Pioneer Airlines Swearingen SA-227AC crashed during a night ASR approach to Pueblo, CO airport, killing the pilot and co-pilot of that aircraft. WX at the time was light snow and low visibility. A little over 100 miles to the north, Key was attending a get together when word came of the missing aircraft in Pueblo. Key and one of the flight mechanics for the helicopters drove to Denver-JEFFCO airport (now known as Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, on the NW side of metro Denver) to the airport FBO where a few of the local TV station helicopters were kept. WX at the time was OVC002-003 and low visibility of approximately 1/4, with fog and light-moderate snow falling. Upon arrival at the FBO, they met with the crews of two of the rival TV station helicopters. One crew had attempted to depart and fly south to Pueblo, only to turn around and return to the airport. The second crew hadn't even brought their helicopter out of the hangar. Key began preflighting her helicopter, and during that time, was warned of the adverse weather encountered by the helo crew who had just landed, who's pilot tried repeatedly to persuade her not to launch. Key, who wasn't instrument rated and only held a Commercial-Rotorcraft-Helicopter certificate, didn't heed their advice, seemingly wanting to get the scoop on the news story for her station in this day and age of television news ratings. As such, Key contacted JEFFCO tower, requesting and receiving an SVFR clearance. Key and her flight mechanic launched into the dark, snowy night headed southbound under radar advisories. Proceeding south along the western portion of Denver, Key eventually joined Interstate 25 near Castle Rock, continuing southbound. Radar advisories were provided by Denver TRACON until terrain no longer allowed for radar tracking. Following I-25 southbound, Key's News4 helicopter was witnessed by numerous motorists travelling with landing and searchlight on, and above the highway at approximately 100 AGL and 50 mph, in fog, icing and moderate snowfall, picking their way down the interstate. Some of the motorists had maintained contact with the Bell 206B for 15 minutes or more, as it was travelling at almost the same speed they were in the prevailing WX and road conditions. Eventually, ground witnesses lost sight of the helicopter as the interstate made a bend in the road, and Key's helicopter took a course away from the roadway. Key never made it to the Pueblo airport. The helicopter was found the next morning, having impacted pine trees atop a snow-covered knoll that it had just crossed, causing it to roll abruptly right and impact the ground on the downhill side of the knoll past the top. Both Key and her flight mechanic were killed on impact. Toxicology tests later performed on Key revealed a blood alchohol content (BAC) of 0.093%, just below the (then) legal limit, and people who had spent the day with her reported she had been consuming alchoholic beverages off and on for most of the day.

Probable Cause

*VFR Flight Into IMC Conditions -Initiated/Continued - Pilot In Command
*Impairment (Alcohol) - Pilot In Command

Secondary Factors

*Preflight Preparation - Inadequate - Pilot In Command
*Overconfidence In Personal Ability - Pilot In Command
*Lack Of Total Instrument Time - Pilot In Command
*Self Induced Pressure - Pilot In Command

Tertiary Factors

*Light Condition - Dark Night
*Weather Condition - Low Ceiling
*Weather Condition - Snow
*Weather Condition - Fog
*Terrain Condition - Mountainous/Hills
*Terrain Condition - Snow Covered

MikeD says

This accident, like so many before it and so many after it, highlights how the pressure to be first, the pressure to perform, the desire to get the scoop, and to become and stay well-known, especially in media or surrounded by it, has caused so many bad decisions in the aviation world; both in professional aviation as well as in general aviation. One accident that immediately comes to mind when I think of this, and one with striking similarity in general nature to Key's accident highlighted above, is the 11 April 1996 accident that killed 7 year-old Jessica DuBroff. DuBroff, attempting to become the youngest person to pilot an aircraft across the United States, was killed along with her father and her CFI, when they attempted to takeoff in an overweight Cessna 177 from Cheyenne, WY, in an advancing thunderstorm that included moderate icing, windshear, precipitation, and turbulance. Very shortly after takeoff, DuBroff's Cessna stalled and crashed into a house in a local neighborhood, killing all three persons aboard.

Now, we've all been in pressure situations, either pressure to perform or pressure to get a job done. In aviation, I've personally seen it in nearly all my jobs from traffic watch to 14 CFR 135 cargo. I also saw it in the military, but in the military was the only place where the missions truly mattered, where the pressure was due to something life or death going on, normally in combat situations. In the Key and Dubroff situations, the pressure was completely self-induced: Key as a member of the media wanting to remain on the top of her game, and DuBroff wanting to be in the media spotlight, or more likely her family wanting to through her. In both events, bad decision making and their fatal consequences were the direct result of self-induced pressures that didn't need to be there, and weren't important; certainly not worth one's life.

The decision to launch into very marginal WX was poor, especially when advised by the other helicopter crews, one of whom had already attempted to make a go of it; and especially with no instrument rating. Legally, Key was able to request and launch SVFR, since for helicopters, SVFR is authorized at night without an instrument rating and with only a requirement to remain clear of clouds. Exiting the Airport Traffic Area and into uncontrolled airspace, if remaining below 1200 AGL and remaining in uncontrolled airspace, then helicopters are allowed to remain clear of clouds with the only visibility requirement being to operate at a speed that allows the pilot adequate opportunity to see any air traffic or obstruction in time to avoid a collision. If entering controlled airspace at any time, then VFR cloud clearances for that would now apply. Regardless of the legality of the situation, there's always the difference between what's legal and what's safe or smart, and balancing these factors out is a main part of risk management. In this case, the self-induced pressure, and possibly the influence of alcohol, all tipped the scale towards the side of legal vs safe/smart; especially in light of Key's lack of an instrument rating as well as the specifics of the prevailing WX conditions, notably the visibility restrictions and the potential for spatial disorientation. All of these factors allowed the proverbial holes of the swiss cheese layers [in Reason's Swiss Cheese model] to align perfectly, with nothing to prevent or block the accident from happening.

Final Thoughts

The death of Karen Key was something that struck a chord with me at my young age then, being one of the first people I felt I "knew" or had personally met, who I later found out had died in an aircraft accident. Watching her news reporting from Chopper10 when I was a kid was always a highlight of my day, both for the fact that she was a local celebrity of sorts as well as being a helicopter pilot. In Key's 28 years of life, she attained the goal she set out to accomplish, that of breaking into one part of the TV news world that hadn't yet been held by a female. As such, she took her rightful place among other females who have made first's in aviation both before as well as after, such as Jackie Cochran, Jeanne Flynn, and Kara Hultgren. Fame and the nature of the beast called television news, likely combined to contribute to a number of poor and fateful decisions made on that dark, snowy night in 1982. 25 years later, the same new-scoop phenomena would be seen firsthand over Phoenix with another accident of news helicopters, when the KTVK-3 and KNXV-15 helicopters would collide in midair over downtown Phoenix while following a high-speed police chase, resulting in the fatalities of all 4 personnel aboard both helicopters. Unfortunately, for the accomplishments that 28 year old Karen Key was noted and for the first in women's aviation she became, her death on 7 December 1982 is little remembered but for those who knew her personally or otherwise knew of her, since that Day of Infamy is normally noted for the tragic 1941 event that brought the U.S. into war with Japan. As I write this, it's 27 years since I watched Key's last TV broadcast on the 6 o'clock Channel 10 news, which to this day I remember being closed out with her News10 helicopter banking into the setting Arizona sun over metro Phoenix, and flying off into the sunset, as she bid farewell to the city where her career started.

Unfortunately, as the title of this accident synopsis states, oftentimes in aviation Being First Doesn't Always Guarantee You Will Win.


MikeD

The above is not intended to be an undue criticism of the person or persons involved in the incident described. Instead, the analysis presented is intended to further the cause of flight safety and help to reduce accidents and incidents by educating pilots through the sacrifices of others in our profession.
 
Gave me the chills man, could be cause it is snowing though.

One question though, was the first pilot that came back instrument rated?
 
Very poor decision making, clearly. Talking with friends who fly helos, taking one IFR without any real training is NOT something I would want to do.....just doesn't seem nearly as intuitive as flying fixed wing on steam gauges. Having flown (IFR mind you) in such ceilings and vis, there is no way that I would want to tool around in that madness using SVFR, even if it were legal.....and at night???? I know as aviators we all have that type A type of confidence in our abilities, but one needs to know their limits. After an afternoon of social drinking I know that restraint tends to subside but that's when you need to put away the keys.
 
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