NTSB: 3 killed in medical helicopter crash in SC

[samanthajane13]

GEORGETOWN, S.C. – A medical transport helicopter crashed in coastal South Carolina, killing all three people on board, authorities said Saturday.

The company that owned the helicopter, Addison, Texas-based Omniflight, said a pilot, flight nurse and paramedic were on board when it crashed Friday night.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators were en route to the scene Saturday. Agency spokesman Peter Knudson says no patients were on board the helicopter, which had dropped off a patient at about 9:35 p.m. Friday in Charleston, about 60 miles southwest of Georgetown County.

In a statement, the company confirmed that the American Eurocopter AS350B2 took off from Charleston around 11 p.m. Friday and was headed to Conway, a city about 50 miles north of Georgetown.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen says the pilot last radioed air traffic control at 11:05 p.m., saying the crew was about four miles from an airport near Charleston and had it in sight.

The helicopter crashed shortly thereafter, at about 11:30 p.m., Knudson said.

A thunderstorm moved through the area shortly before the crash, according to the National Weather Service. Authorities have not said if weather conditions contributed to the accident.

On its Web site, Omniflight says the company operates 100 aircraft from 72 bases in 18 states. In a statement, the company said its 1,000 employees were coping with the tragedy.

"Omniflight is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of its crew members and wishes to express its deepest regrets and sincerest condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives," the company said.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090926/ap_on_re_us/us_medical_helicopter_crash

[samanthajane13]

No malfunction before SC medical helicopter crash

GEORGETOWN, S.C. – Federal safety investigators found no indication that a medical helicopter malfunctioned before crashing, killing all three crew members on board, and hope to find witnesses who saw it come down in coastal South Carolina.

National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt said Sunday all major portions of the aircraft were accounted for, and that none of those parts showed anything was wrong before the crash Friday night.

The engine seemed to have been working at the time of impact and the recovered tail rotor showed no signs it failed, Sumwalt said.

"If there had been damage, it might indicate that it had frozen up in flight," he said. "But at this point, it is completely free-moving. So it would indicate that it was turning as it should have been at the time of the crash."

Investigators want to talk with any witnesses to the crash, The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reported Monday.

The crash came just one day after the NTSB issued 21 recommendations to help improve the safety of air ambulance flights, following a four-day public hearing on the issue over seven months ago.

The helicopter had just dropped off a patient at a hospital in Charleston and was flying to Conway, about 90 miles to the northeast, when it crashed about 11:30 p.m. in Georgetown County, said Peter Knudson, an NTSB spokesman.

Omniflight, a Texas-based company which operated the helicopter, identified the crew members killed as: pilot Patrick Walters, 45, of Murrells Inlet; flight nurse Diana Conner, 42, of Florence; and paramedic Randolph Claxton Dove, 39, of Bladenboro, N.C.

The helicopter went down about 20 to 30 feet off a logging road in the midst of some pine trees in a sparsely populated area. Sumwalt described the crash site as small.

The crash left a 3-foot crater in the soft ground. While all three rotor blades were recovered, one of the blades was buried about 2 feet.

Sumwalt said the helicopter had flown between two intense thunderstorms and it was raining when it crashed. He could not say if the conditions were a factor.

"We will certainly be looking at weather as it may have related to this accident," he said. "But we're looking at a lot of factors."

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said Saturday that the pilot last radioed air traffic control at 11:05 p.m., saying the crew was about four miles from an airport near Charleston and had it in sight.

Investigators will probably be able to finish their work in the next several days, Sumwalt said. The wreckage will be moved to a salvage facility, and officials will go over maintenance records and pilot training records. A preliminary report could be issued in the next 10 to 12 days, with all information available in about six months.

NTSB records show there were nine fatal helicopter ambulance accidents between December 2007 and October 2008, killing 35 people.

"We don't want to see any more accidents like this," Sumwalt said.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090928/ap_on_re_us/us_medical_helicopter_crash

[samanthajane13]

Officials seek witnesses to fatal SC chopper crash

GEORGETOWN, S.C. – As federal investigators looked for witnesses to the crash of a medical helicopter, funeral services were set Monday for two of the three crew members killed in the rainy weekend accident.

Investigators said they found no immediate indication there was any malfunction with the aircraft before the Friday night crash and that the engine seemed to be working properly.

The helicopter went down in a pine stand in a sparsely populated area south of Georgetown, about 60 miles northeast of Charleston, S.C.

"We're not surprised, it being so rural, we have not heard from anybody," Peter Knudson, a National Transportation Safety Board spokesman.

He said two NTSB investigators would remain at the scene for the next day or two documenting wreckage that, at this point, provides no obvious clue what happened.

"There is nothing we have found so far to indicate there was anything wrong with the aircraft prior to the accident," he said. The helicopter did not have, and was not required to have, a flight voice recorder.

As part of the investigation, experts will take apart the engine to make sure it was operating properly, Knudson said.

Omniflight, the Texas-based company that operated the helicopter, identified the crew members as pilot Patrick Walters, 45, of Murrells Inlet, flight nurse Diana Conner, 42, of Florence and paramedic Randolph Claxton Dove, 39, of Bladenboro, N.C.

A company spokeswoman said she was checking for background and could not immediately say how long each worker had been with the company.

Services for Walters, a native of Monroe, La., and a former decorated Marine captain survived by a wife, a son and two daughters, are Wednesday at St. Michael Catholic Church in Garden City, S.C., where he was a member.

Services for Dove are Thursday at Sandy Grove Baptist Church in his hometown of Bladenboro. He is survived by a wife and two daughters.

The family requested there be no service for Conner, survived by a husband, a son and a daughter. A native of Elyria, Ohio, she earlier worked as an emergency room nurse at Williamsburg Regional Hospital and for Williamsburg County emergency medical technician in Kingstree.

The helicopter had just dropped off a patient at a hospital in Charleston and was flying to Conway, about 90 miles to the northeast, when it crashed.

Investigators said it had flown between two intense thunderstorms and it was raining at the time.

The weather will be part of the investigation, which could take more than a year to complete, Knudson said. He said fatal accidents take longer to investigate, he said.

"They are a lot more severe, obviously," he said. "When you don't have anyone to talk to and there is no voice recorder, it makes the investigations more complex."

The crash came a day after the NTSB issued 21 recommendations to help improve the safety of air ambulance flights.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090928/ap_on_re_us/us_medical_helicopter_crash