Medical Helicopter Crashes in South Carolina
09/28/09One day after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued 21 recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to make air ambulance flights safer, and just months after it held a four-day public hearing on the issue – another medical helicopter has crashed. All three Carolina Lifecare crew members on board were killed. The helicopter, a Eurocopter AS-350 B2 (N417AE), crashed near Georgetown, South Carolina, at about 11:30 p.m. (Eastern) on Friday, September 25, after dropping off a patient in Charleston about two hours earlier. According to reports, the helicopter, operated by Texas-based Omniflight Helicopters Inc., was flying between “intense thunderstorms” and last contacted its base at 11:16 p.m. Crew members gave their position but did not indicate any problems.
So what went wrong?
Like many tragic air ambulance crashes that preceded it, the Omniflight pilot appears to have been operating the helicopter in adverse weather conditions. Time and time again air ambulance helicopters have been cautioned about the risk of flying their helicopters near the ground in low visibility and adverse weather conditions. While the NTSB’s investigation may take months to complete, adverse weather conditions have unfortunately emerged, once again, as a prominent feature in a fatal air ambulance helicopter crash. Until the FAA adopts more restrictive standards that prevent air ambulance helicopters from operating in dangerous weather, the death toll will continue to mount. — Michael Slack
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