3 Dead After Medical Helicopter Crashes

[brentoli]

Sources tell me it is an Air Evac helicopter.

GREENSBURG, Ind. -- Three people were killed Sunday afternoon when a medical helicopter went down near Greensburg Sunday afternoon, police said.

The crash happened just before 2 p.m. near County Road 700 West and Base Line Road, just outside of Greensburg, officials with the Decatur County Sheriff’s Department said.

The pilot, a nurse and a medic were killed when the helicopter crashed as it was leaving a fundraiser at the Burney Fire Department, officials said.

RTV6

[fireflymedic]

It is confirmed that it was an air med helicopter from AEL (air evac lifeteam) and pilot, nurse and medic aboard were killed. I have friends that work that base, fortunately none were on that flight, but it is still a difficult thing. Always terrible to hear. My understanding from them is that the engine exploded mid air causing it to come down - the reason being unknown at this time. Names have not yet been released pending notification.

[wrenEMT]

Can't tell you the name of the medic but one of my friends just called me to let me know it was one of the guys that used to work for him.

[Punisher]

It is confirmed that it was an air med helicopter from AEL (air evac lifeteam) and pilot, nurse and medic aboard were killed. I have friends that work that base, fortunately none were on that flight, but it is still a difficult thing. Always terrible to hear. My understanding from them is that the engine exploded mid air causing it to come down - the reason being unknown at this time. Names have not yet been released pending notification.

The dead were Wade Weston (flight paramedic), Sandra Pearson (flight nurse), and the pilot Roger Warren. I used to work with Sandra (assuming it is the same Sandra Pearson)....what a shame to lose such fine professionals....

According to one of my contacts (I conduct aviation safety research as my primary occupation nowadays), the engine experienced some sort of "catastrophic failure". Whether it was an explosion is not clear, but given the similarity between this and the last crash that AirEvac had (December 30, 2007 down in Alabama), I think it says something about the maintenance department of this company. They are at the top (or pretty damn close to it) of most safety advocates' list of operations that need to be overhauled or shut down entirely. And in the aeromedical world of today, that is saying A LOT!

[SANDMEDIC]

If you feel compelled to arm chair quarterback a certain company please take it to justhelicopters or flightweb. It usually take a week or so before someone starts bashing a company but I guess you take the cake of the biggest Tool Bag. NICE Job!

:!:

Some of us had friends on that aircraft.

[Punisher]

Some of us had friends on that aircraft.

I did. I used to work with Sandra. It makes the loss of the chopper all the more personal, given that I both knew someone who was killed (this is the third friend I've lost to civilian helicopter crashes) and I spend my days trying to improve safety. This loss is a slap in the face that we still have much to do to minimize the chances of this happening again.

[Eydawn]

The more of these I hear about, the more I think really hard about the risks involved with flying a chopper...

My patient had *really* better need it before I put a flight crew (and potentially my patient!) at risk. Not just because it's easier... if it doesn't benefit the patient, it doesn't fly.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

[Punisher]

if it doesn't benefit the patient, it doesn't fly.

Then you just eliminated ~80-90% of patients that are flown annually. However, let's try to keep the arguments on that topic to a minimum (or start another thread).

[chbare]

The dead were Wade Weston (flight paramedic), Sandra Pearson (flight nurse), and the pilot Roger Warren. I used to work with Sandra (assuming it is the same Sandra Pearson)....what a shame to lose such fine professionals....

According to one of my contacts (I conduct aviation safety research as my primary occupation nowadays), the engine experienced some sort of "catastrophic failure". Whether it was an explosion is not clear, but given the similarity between this and the last crash that AirEvac had (December 30, 2007 down in Alabama), I think it says something about the maintenance department of this company. They are at the top (or pretty damn close to it) of most safety advocates' list of operations that need to be overhauled or shut down entirely. And in the aeromedical world of today, that is saying A LOT!

How can your contact know such information? It can take a year or more for the root cause analysis to be reported. My flight company had a crash over a year ago and still no official word on the investigation. He said she said anecdotes are not helpful. Wait for the official investigation and conclusions before throwing out opinions.

Thoughts and prayers go out to friends and families.

Take care,

chbare.

[Eydawn]

Also, my condolences to all who knew the crew killed in this crash...

Sorry, not trying to derail, just trying to illustrate how many of these we've had and the need for reducing them... including deep evaluation of the patient's true level of need.

Wendy

CO EMT-B