While the Van Horn Aviation family continues to mourn the loss of contract experimental test pilot Rucie Moore and VHA engineering manager Stephen Estes in a helicopter accident that occurred on Tuesday, April 16 near Fountain Hills, Ariz., we assure our customers that we continue to stand behind our current composite 206B JetRanger main and tail rotor blade designs.
“Rucie and Stephen were performing experimental flight test maneuvers when their JetRanger went down,” said VHA president Dean Rosenlof. “Current production blades were not on the aircraft. Our customers should feel secure that Van Horn Aviation rotor blades are safe to fly. While we cannot comment on the ongoing investigation, we are confident that the NTSB will not find our blades to be the cause of this tragic accident.”
VHA continues to support our customers in the field. As Estes was a key member of VHA’s customer support team, customers who had been working with him should direct their inquiries to Dean Rosenlof for the near future.
VHA is also working on a tribute page for Estes and Moore.