The helicopter crash that killed three people in Colbert County on December 30, 2007, seems to have been caused by a pilot error, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The report comes after a yearlong investigation and lists a loss of tail-rotor effectiveness as contributing to the accident that occurred near Cherokee.

The helicopter plunged into a wooded area and exploded, killing pilot Michael Baker, paramedic Allan Bragwell and flight nurse Tiffany Miles. They were trying to help a Florence man who became lost while hunting in the area., and he was rescued uninjured. Baker, a former US Coast Guard helicopter pilot, was hovering too low and flying too slow, as he held a spotlight to lead ground rescue workers to the hunter.

The helicopter seems to have been hovering 100 to 150 feet above the trees, and the flight operations manual requires a minimum altitude of 500 feet above ground level for night searches. Finally, the helicopter began to spin to the right, falling into the trees, which is consistent with the loss of tail-rotor effectiveness.

A previously published Federal Aviation Administration reported that a loss of tail-rotor effectiveness is not related to maintenance malfunctions and can occur at airspeeds of less than 30 knots. Other reports also indicate that flying at low altitudes and speeds will most likely provoke a loss of tail-rotor effectiveness.

The crash occurred in the Freedom Hills Wildlife Management area, a mile off Mount Mills Road in southwestern Colbert County. The time of the wreck was 3:06 a.m,, while the helicopter was a Bell 206L-3. Baker had 3,500 hours of flight experience, 2,900 of them in helicopters, but that did not help him avoid this fatal accident.