ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —A disabled PHI Air Medical helicopter was lifted off the roof of UNM Hospital Saturday, three days after it crashed while attempting to take off.
Police blocked off a section of Lomas Boulevard before dawn Saturday and shortly after, crews positioned a 125-ton crane in front of the hospital's entrance.
By 10:15 a.m. the helicopter was on a flatbed truck. Electricity, which had been provided by generators during the operation, was then turned back on.
"The emergency operations center did exactly what it's supposed to do," said Dr. Bob Bailey, a UNMH physician and EOC incident commander. "Patients and staff are safe, and the integrity of our clinical operation was preserved. What a privilege to work with such dedicated people who rose to the challenge and performed superbly."
Before bringing the main body of the helicopter down, the crane lowered the aircraft's tail and two 55-gallon drums of fuel that had been offloaded from the helicopter Friday. Due to high-voltage power lines running next to the hospital, PNM required that power be cut to those lines while the crane lowered the wreckage.
Clinical services at the hospital continued uninterrupted while the helicopter was removed. UNM had cancelled classes and indoor events scheduled before noon Saturday. The adjacent UNM Health Sciences Center had also cancelled campus activities Saturday.
“We spent all day Friday planning for how to carefully make the power switch so there would be minimal impact to the hospital and to the campus,” said Mary Vosevich, UNM's physical plant director. “We had contingency plans in place and implemented them with more than 40 physical plant employees working to make sure everything went as smoothly as possible.”
The National Transportation Safety Board has possession of the helicopter as it continues its investigation into what caused the crash.
The helicopter spun around several times before landing on its side near the edge of the roof after it attempted to take off from the hospital's helipad.
No patients were aboard when the helicopter crashed. The pilot suffered minor injuries but two other crew members on board were not injured. There were no injuries to UNMH patients or employees.
As a precaution, 18 patients on portions of UNMH's fifth and sixth floors directly beneath the helipad were moved to other areas of the hospital. Otherwise patient care was uninterrupted, the hospital said.
Most clinical and administrative hospital operations are back to normal.
