Pilot Ed Friedman says that before his helicopter spun and crashed in Burnham in July 2013, he was in perfect control of the craft on a flight to track a bear in a  Unity College study.

The Bowdoinham man, owner of Point of View Helicopter Services, isn’t sure what caused the spin; it might have been a mechanical issue or some other reason, he said in a telephone interview August 10, days after the National Transportation Safety Board issued a report Friedman disagrees with. He said he is considering challenging that report on the crash’s probable cause: his failure to maintain control of the craft’s direction.

The report doesn’t put his pilot’s license at risk. The  window the Federal Aviation Administration had to take any action in connection with the crash has closed, with no action taken against him, Friedman said.

“I’d like to see my name cleared and my business’ name cleared,” he said. Friedman has spoken with a lawyer and plans to again, about possibly petitioning for the NTSB to revise its report. He’s been having independent experts look into the crash. They haven’t seen anything to support the NTSB’s finding, he said.

No mechanical problems were found with the helicopter, according to the NTSB’s report, released August 7.

Friedman questioned  a part of the report involving the helicopter’s tail rotor. The report states that the  failure to maintain control of the craft’s direction led to loss of the tail rotor’s effectiveness.

“My tail rotor survived the accident in perfect shape,” Friedman writes in an August 12 email. “ One obvious conclusion is that it was not rotating when the helicopter contacted the trees and may in fact then been inoperative just prior, thus causing the loss of tail rotor authority and initiating the spin. Alternatively, the main rotor stoppage in the trees was so instant ... the tail rotor had no time to be damaged while in rotation, Friedman’s email continues.

“One of our photos shows a (probable) rotor strike midway down a tree trunk. This would indicate there was time for the spinning rotors to penetrate the timber before stopping. The woods were very thick. For the tail rotor to sustain no damage, it would have needed to be really lucky!”

The crash destroyed Friedman’s helicopter and he has yet to replace it. He doesn’t believe he would be allowed to conduct flights while he remains under treatment for a non-aggressive lymphoma, he said. When he’s able, he wants to get the one-man, one helicopter business going again.

The July 3, 2013 crash knocked out Friedman; his passenger, on board in connection with the college’s bear study, went for help.

Friedman said he had a long recovery from his injuries, a dislocated and fractured hip and a fractured ankle.