ATSB finds an eagle likely brought down helicopter that killed veteran pilot Carl Hearps

Australia’s largest bird of prey is thought to have brought down a helicopter, killing veteran pilot Carl Hearps in northwest Sydney in July, according to a report.

A wedge-tailed eagle is considered the most likely cause of a helicopter crash that killed veteran pilot Carl Hearps in Sydney’s northwest on July 9.

An Australian Transport Safety Bureau report said the carcass of a wedge-tailed eagle — Australia’s largest bird of prey — was found near the crash site at Maroota on July 9.

Mr Hearps, 67, had been flying a relatively short distance to the village of St Albans from a private helipad at Cattai when the crash occurred, less than 10-minutes into the flight.

Eyewitnesses interviewed by the ATSB reported seeing the Bell 206L1 helicopter moments before the accident flying straight and level, in good weather conditions.

ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said that suddenly changed when the helicopter “entered a rapid banking turn to the right while pitching up”.

“They heard several rotor beats change tone before a final louder noise,” said Mr Mitchell.

The helicopter was then seen pitching and rolling while descending, with one witness describing the separation of the main rotor blades from the helicopter.

Shortly afterwards, smoke was spotted rising from the area where the chopper came down.

When rescuers reached the site, fire had destroyed the helicopter and the pilot was dead.

Helicopter pilot Carl Hearps died in a crash thought to have been caused by a wedge-tailed eagle in Sydney’s northwest. Picture: LinkedIn

The wedge-tailed eagle carcass was found near the main rotor blade tip, and biological residue from the bird detected on external helicopter surfaces.

“With this evidence indicating a bird strike occurred prior to an in-flight break-up, the investigation moving forward will aim to determine the full sequence of events, and potential safety learnings from this accident,” Mr Mitchell said.

The most recent ATSB data showed bird strikes were continuing to increase year-on-year with 1921 incidents in 2017.

Last month, a Qantas Boeing 737 was forced to return to Perth about an hour into a flight to Port Hedland after a bird strike.

Also in September, a bird strike on approach to Melbourne Airport was blamed for temporarily knocking a Jetstar 787 out of action.

Brisbane Airport was considered the worst place for bird strikes with 1139 incidents between 2008 and 2017, followed by Sydney and Darwin.

Despite bird strikes being relatively common occurrences, they rarely caused significant damage to aircraft.

The most famous exception was the 2009 “miracle on the Hudson” in New York, when a double bird strike damaged the engines of an A320.