Mercy Air Crash
Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 9:43 pm
Medical helicopter crashes, killing 3 crew members east of LA
Associated Press
DEVORE, Calif. - A Medevac helicopter crashed late Sunday near the Cajon Pass, killing the pilot and two crew members, authorities said.
The accident occurred about 6 p.m. as the Bell 412 utility helicopter left from Loma Linda Medical Center to its base in Victorville, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
The pilot may have encountered fog in the Cajon Pass and authorities were investigating the possibility the helicopter clipped some power lines before it crashed and burned, Gregor said.
All three crew members aboard were killed. Their identities were not immediately released.
No patients were aboard the aircraft.
Several residents told authorities they saw the helicopter "in distress" before crashing, said Arden Wilshire, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
The helicopter belongs to Mercy Air Service, Inc., a subsidiary of Air Methods Corp., the nation's largest operator of air ambulances. Messages left for Mercy and Air Methods were not immediately returned Sunday.
There are about 650 emergency medical service helicopters operating in the U.S., according to the FAA. A federal investigation earlier this year found there were 55 air ambulance accidents between 2002 and 2005. The number of Medevac fatalities doubled to 62 in the 2001-05 period from the previous five years.
Federal safety investigators have recommended better pilot training, night vision goggles and crash avoidance systems to reduce air ambulance accidents.
Emergency medical services pilots often fly in dangerous conditions and are pressured to save lives. Despite those hazards, the operators are under less government oversight than commercial airlines and face fewer government restrictions when they are flying without a patient.
Devore is 55 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
Associated Press
DEVORE, Calif. - A Medevac helicopter crashed late Sunday near the Cajon Pass, killing the pilot and two crew members, authorities said.
The accident occurred about 6 p.m. as the Bell 412 utility helicopter left from Loma Linda Medical Center to its base in Victorville, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
The pilot may have encountered fog in the Cajon Pass and authorities were investigating the possibility the helicopter clipped some power lines before it crashed and burned, Gregor said.
All three crew members aboard were killed. Their identities were not immediately released.
No patients were aboard the aircraft.
Several residents told authorities they saw the helicopter "in distress" before crashing, said Arden Wilshire, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
The helicopter belongs to Mercy Air Service, Inc., a subsidiary of Air Methods Corp., the nation's largest operator of air ambulances. Messages left for Mercy and Air Methods were not immediately returned Sunday.
There are about 650 emergency medical service helicopters operating in the U.S., according to the FAA. A federal investigation earlier this year found there were 55 air ambulance accidents between 2002 and 2005. The number of Medevac fatalities doubled to 62 in the 2001-05 period from the previous five years.
Federal safety investigators have recommended better pilot training, night vision goggles and crash avoidance systems to reduce air ambulance accidents.
Emergency medical services pilots often fly in dangerous conditions and are pressured to save lives. Despite those hazards, the operators are under less government oversight than commercial airlines and face fewer government restrictions when they are flying without a patient.
Devore is 55 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
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