We may never know why a medical helicopter went crazy, forcing the pilot to make a hard landing at Drexel Hill United Methodist Church nearly two years ago, a miraculous accident in which everyone survived.

The National Transportation Safety Board issued its final report on Jan. 4 on the church helicopter accident and determined that they can find no definitive cause for why it happened, writes Pete Bannan for the Daily Times.

The safety board said the probable cause was “an inflight attitude upset for undetermined reasons” that caused over-speeding of the rotor system and a power reduction in both engines, leaving insufficient power to continue normal flight, reports the Associated Press in The Washington Post.

“Examination of the helicopter revealed no evidence of malfunction that would result in an abrupt departure from cruise flight,” the safety board said.

The Eurocopter EC-135 helicopter, owned by Denver-based Air Methods, was transporting an infant girl, the pilot, and two medical crew members on Jan. 11 at about 1 PM when it came down hard in front of the church at Burmont Road and Bloomfield Avenue in Drexel Hill.

The aircraft was flying from Chambersburg, Maryland, toward Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. It flew most of the trip at a 3,500-foot cruising level, descending to 2,800, then 1,500 feet as it prepared for arrival at CHOP.

Over Drexel Hill it abruptly increased its altitude and then went into a steep dive.

Pilot Daniel Moore recovered from the dive but could not climb or hover due to insufficient engine power, forcing the hard landing.

Moore avoided power lines and buildings as he nose-dived in, slamming sideways into the street and coming to rest next to the church. Moore was seriously injured but has since recovered, as did everyone on board.

Moore told investigators in September 2023 that he could not recall the beginning of the emergency but remembered fighting for control, then “assessing and rejecting multiple forced landing sites before selecting the point of touchdown,” the report said.

Read the church helicopter accident accounts from witnesses and pilot Moore in the Daily Times and The Washington Post.