Air Ambulance down in California

[Heliport]

KTVU report Three Die In Mendocino Helicopter Crash

UKIAH, Calif. -- Three people were killed Tuesday night when a medical helicopter crashed into a mountain in Mendocino County, officials with the Federal Aviation Administration said.

After departing from Santa Rosa, the helicopter had stopped in Ukiah on its way to Willits, a town about 15 miles north. After leaving Ukiah, the pilot decided to turn back due to poor weather conditions, said FAA spokesman Donn Walker.

It was on the way back that the helicopter went down around 7:30 p.m., about two miles north of Redwood Valley. The aircraft was destroyed by the impact of the crash and a resulting fire, Walker said.

All three people on board -- a pilot and two crew members -- were killed. There were no patients on the helicopter at the time.


Redwood Valley is about 120 miles north of San Francisco.

http://www.atasteofredwoodvalley.com/images/map.gif

[Time Out]

Three killed when medical helicopter crashes in Mendocino County

By TERENCE CHEA
Associated Press Writer

SAN FRANCISCO --
Three people were killed Tuesday night when a medical helicopter crashed into a mountain in Mendocino County about 120 miles north of San Francisco, officials with the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The helicopter, which originated in Santa Rosa, had stopped in Ukiah on its way to Willits, a town about 20 miles further north. After leaving Ukiah, the pilot decided to turn back due to poor weather conditions, said FAA spokesman Donn Walker.

It was on the way back that the helicopter went down around 7:30 p.m., about two miles north of Redwood Valley. The aircraft was destroyed by the impact of the crash and a resulting fire, Walker said.

All three people on board - a pilot and two nurses - were killed. There were no patients in the helicopter at the time.

The cause of the crash has not been determined. The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident, Walker said.

The three victims were employees of Redwood Empire Air Care Helicopter, also known as REACH, a privately owned Santa Rosa firm that provides air ambulance services in northern California, said REACH spokesman Pat McDonald.

REACH was notifying the families of the victims Tuesday night and would not release their identities.

"They were all experienced flight crew members," McDonald said. "They've been with us for a number of years."

The company wasn't sure why the pilot decided to turn back, but McDonald said, "It is not uncommon for REACH helicopters to fly in inclement weather."

The crew was on its way to Willits to pick up a patient to bring to a hospital in the San Francisco Bay area, McDonald said.

Tuesday's crash was the first accident the company, which owns nine helicopters, has had since it was founded in 1987, McDonald said. The helicopter was a Agusta 109, which can seat about five passengers.

source (http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031224/APN/312240561)

and another with some different points

UKIAH, Calif. -- Three crewmembers were killed Tuesday night when their medical helicopter crashed into a hillside near the Mendocino County town of Ukiah, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration reported.

Donn Walker said the helicopter out of Santa Rosa had stopped in Ukiah en route to Willits, about 10 to 15 miles farther north. On the trip to Willits, the crew realized the weather was too poor to continue and turned back for Ukiah, Walker said.

On the return trip, the helicopter crashed, Walker said. It was destroyed by the impact of the crash and the ensuing fire. All three people aboard died. Walker said no patients were on board the helicopter.

The crew reported to the FAA that they were turning back but were not in contact with air traffic controllers at the time of the crash, Walker said.

source (http://www.nbc11.com/news/2724645/detail.html)

So sad, as always, to read about such deaths.

[ATPMBA]

It's starting to sound the old days a few years ago in the USA when there was, it seemed a crash a month.

Any stats of on crashes fir this group, they must be way ahead of air taxi and offshore, how do they compare to flight instructing?

This is an area where the industry could use some high tech tools to prevent mishaps. Perhpas like GWPS that looks down and ahead, kind of the terrain following radar that the F-111 uses.

[B Sousa]

I have flown that area a bit and can tell you its not fun when the Fog rolls in. Night wont help either.
Reach is a good Company from what I hear and all the Pilots that I have met are experienced.
Seems it may turn out to be one of those things that EMS folks get caught up in. How much do I risk for the Mission. This is not the first time for EMS folks, and a very sad situation.
That part of the state is somewhat remote and EMS is a vital part for folks in need. They will be missed in the Skys over Northern California....

[XEMS]

WX was lousy, I was out flying earlier in the day and freezing levels were down to 5,000 or so. When weather turns bad in Ukiah area, it does so in a hurry. A lot of dark mountains out there. My prayers go out to the families of the crew.

[ProfessorFate]

The company wasn't sure why the pilot decided to turn back, but McDonald said, "It is not uncommon for REACH helicopters to fly in inclement weather." Maybe it shoud be. Maybe it should never happen at all. Was this a patient that could have gotten to the hospital any other way? Was the pilot right to risk three to save one?

I trained in California, and the fog can make you blind in an instant. I recall inadvertent IMC in my initial training, just making turns around the pattern while the fog switched on. Surprise!

If REACH has the policy of "three to go and one to say no" then nobody spoke up in time. Did someone want to? We'll never know.

Maybe somebody should have been watching the dewpoint spread and the direction temperatures were going and called it off before they ever left the ground.

The samurai used to start each day by preparing to die. Maybe EMS pilots should start each day by saying, "Today I am going to refuse to do something stupid, which will piss off someone who knows dick about my job, and will result in me getting fired." Then they can relax.

My sympathies to their families and to all REACH people. May this never happen again.

[SASless]

We could build a laundry list of what-if's when these things happen...certainly several of our posters do just that. Maybe we should just admit to ourselves privately that something went terribly wrong for unknown reasons at this time, and simply say a prayer for those that died.

It is particularly tragic that this comes at what should be a happy time of the year when we celebrate family and the Christmas Holiday. There are several families that will be coping with the loss of family members and friends.

Flying EMS has its rewards and its risks as this loss of a crew demonstrates. I hope they found Peace of the sort we celebrate at this time of the year.

When you sit down to your Christmas dinner this year...remember the helicopter people that are at work, flying EMS, SAR, Offshore, Law Enforcement and other necessary work that keeps them away from their families and pray they fly safely.

[Autorotate]

SASless - does anyone know if Reach use NVGs and if anyone here is from that area, if they werent used, would they have made any difference.

Autorotate

[XEMS]

REACH doesn't use NVG's. Who knows if it would have made a difference. All I can say is that the pilot, Art Gotisar (names released earlier today), had been around for years. Loads of experience. IIRC he was Coast Guard trained and had flown in CA for years. A great guy. He will be missed.

[brockenspectre]

My thoughts and prayers for the souls lost and their families at this holiday season. Let's hope there are lessons that can be drawn/learned from what happened.

[DynamicallyUnstable]

Condolences to the families:(

[inthegreen]

As a pilot with Mercy Air down south, I'd like to extend my sincere condolences to the families of the deceased and to the REACH organization, our cousins to the north. I have worked with a few ex-REACH employees and all held the company in very high esteem. I'd like to point out that there are very few ex REACH employees.

The pilot was highly experienced in all areas associated to this mission: aircraft, area, EMS. The aircraft was proven and capable. The company has never had a fatal accident in it's history.

This one is a little hard to accept. You cannot point to any specific thing and say, "Well, there you have it, the writing was on the wall." We all operate under the unspoken assumption that if you put the best pilot in the best aircraft all will be well. Certainly NVG's or a Ground proximity warning system would have been a nice addition to his cockpit, but you can't really fault REACH for not having them. How many operators actually have these things at this point? My company doesn't. REACH has several private instrument approaches to local hospitals that they have developed, a costly initiative. My company doesn't have those either. My company IS looking at a wire warning system. That would be nice to have. NVG's would be better, but at $100,000 conversion per aircraft, I don't think I'll see it in my career. I guess it begs the question "How far do you go to guarantee safety?"

I think this accident illustrates, better than most, that EMS in itself, is inherently dangerous. We don't choose the time, the place or the conditions that we fly. We make critical decisions as we go, and fly as far as we safely can. It's a constant razor's edge. If you wanted to eliminate all risk of a weather incursion in Northern California, you simply would not fly all winter.

[Decks]

Very sorry to hear. Condolences from across the pond. Did my training near to this outfit and some of my check rides with one of their check airman, Ken Suzuki who was a great guy and a thorough professional.
Hard one to accept and NVGs etc definitely need to come, but have to say that in some cases bloody bad luck can sometimes play its part.

[SASless]

NVG's are a wonderful improvement over the MK I eyeball for night flying. They too have limitations and in some cases can get you into a real pickle as well. They are a benefit in general but whether they would have helped in this situation is mere speculation.

EMS operations in general in the USA seem to be undergoing a stressful time right now. Pay and working conditions are not what they ought to be. The "union" movement is alive and well in many companies and more appear headed towards becoming unionized. That , to me, is an indicator that the EMS operators are going to have to ramp up rates and take on a different management philosophy if this industry is to prosper. Hospitals are going to have to face the limitations of 24/7 flight operations in marginal weather in areas that have few or no weather reporting stations. The move towards IFR operations is a move towards safety particularly if the aircraft has two well trained and experienced pilots and the most modern technology installed.

The industry will go single pilot and install only basic avionics to accomplish that leaving the pilot susceptible for being overwhelmed when things begin to go wrong.

[Geoffersincornwall]

I'm sitting on an offshore platform where I have had the dubious pleasure to spend Christmas. It's chucking it down with rain, pitch black and I'm about to go and do the evening shuttle. I was about to bemoan my lot when I read about the accident in CA. You don't know when you are well off do you?!

The demands made of our 24/7 EMS and SAR crews make an interesting subject for debate. When and how do we draw the line? Can it ever be drawn?

[Flying Lawyer]

Napa Valley Register online

Napa pilot,two nurses identified in helicopter crash

Federal authorities are investigating a helicopter accident that killed three people, including the pilot Art Gotisa of Napa, Tuesday night in Mendocino County.

The medical helicopter crashed into a mountain near Ukiah, a city about 120 miles north of San Francisco, said Donn Walker, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

The three victims -- a pilot and two nurses -- were employees of Redwood Empire Air Care Helicopter, a privately-owned Santa Rosa firm that provides air ambulance services in northern California. No patients were on board at the time.

In addition to Gotisa, REACH officials on Wednesday also identified the flight nurses Kelly Bates, of Point Richmond, and Diane Codding, of Santa Rosa, who were aboard the doomed flight.

"They were all experienced flight crew members," said Pat McDonald, president of the REACH. "They've been with us for a number of years."

Attempts by the Register to contact REACH and Gotisa's family on Christmas Day were unsuccessful.

McDonald described Gotisa as a very experienced pilot, who had flown formerly with the U.S. Coast Guard, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Gotisa had about 12,000 flight hours when the company in 1998 and another 3,000 hours since then, McDonald said.

The aircraft, which had originally departed from Santa Rosa, had stopped in Ukiah on its way to Willits, about 20 miles further north. After leaving Ukiah, the pilot decided to turn back due to poor weather conditions.

On its return, the helicopter crashed into a mountain around 7:30 p.m. and was destroyed by the impact and a resulting fire, Walker said.

The cause of the crash has not been determined. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident, Walker said.

The company wasn't sure why the pilot decided to turn back, but McDonald said, "It is not uncommon for REACH helicopters to fly in inclement weather."

The crew was on its way to Willits to pick up a patient to bring to a hospital in the San Francisco Bay area, McDonald said.

Tuesday's crash was the first accident the company, which owns nine helicopters, has had since it was founded in 1987, McDonald said. The helicopter was an Agusta 109, which can seat about five passengers.


==========

Always terribly sad, but somehow even more tragic at Christmas.

"Attempts by the Register to contact REACH and Gotisa's family on Christmas Day were unsuccessful."
Thank God for that. What did they want to do? Ask Captain Gotisa's family how they felt? :rolleyes:

[SASless]

FL,

Napanews.com is the Registers web site.

I can assure you the sorry .....sorry......sorry.....errr...looking for a word that you shall not have to edit out....but the sorry rascals sure were not going to offer their condolences nor offer to write a tribute to three deserving folks. Sometimes one wishes for old time frontier justice...some folks deserve horsewhipping in public.

I for one intend to offer my opinion to the Register about their lack of commonsense.:mad:

[Paracab]

The demands made of our 24/7 EMS and SAR crews make an interesting subject for debate. When and how do we draw the line? Can it ever be drawn?

Draw the line when there is any doubt over safety !!!

There is no point in risking life to save life ! (help a casualty, don't become one)

The first rule of any EMS operation is to consider ones personal safety - if it isn't safe - don't get involved !!!

If emotion overcomes you when you get tasked on an EMS/SAR mission, GET OUT ! I'm sure that the guys ands gals at the cutting edge in this area of flying are extremely proffesional and wouldn't take a chance, because there simply is no room for poor judgement or emotion.

Safe flying to the crews concerned.

[Flight Safety]

I personally think that EMS work requires the highest situational awareness, especially while flying in high terrain or bad weather areas. It would be nice (costs permitting) to have all the tools that help with this such as FLIR, ground mapping WX, GPS, and a helo specific EGPWS (such as the Honeywell unit that Sikorksy certified for the S-76). NVGs might be helpful but have their own difficulties that require special training, and it would be difficult for flight nurses to work in the dark :uhoh: (unless there's a VERY effective light divider of some kind).

My condolences and prayers for the families.

[Time Out]

Man Left Waiting For Doomed Air Ambulance Dies

POSTED: 1:34 PM PST December 30, 2003
UPDATED: 1:45 PM PST December 30, 2003

Sonoma County officials confirmed that a man waiting for an air ambulance before it crashed into a mountainside has died.

The man has been identified as 24-year-old Michael Wolf of Covelo. Authorities say he died in Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital on Christmas Day from injuries suffered after a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Wolf was scheduled to be picked up by a medical helicopter when doctors in a Willits hospital determined his injuries were too severe to be treated there. But the helicopter crashed into a mountainside, killing its pilot and two crewmembers.

Just before the crash, the crew had reported it was turning around because of bad weather.

source (http://www.nbc11.com/news/2733369/detail.html)

When and how do we draw the line? Can it ever be drawn?

Does it make a difference that they were self-inflicted wounds?

[C4]

'There but for the grace of God I go"

Make no judgements, for there are three very sad families this holiday season..

[Check 6]

My sister-in-law is a nurse there. The "patient" was brain dead after a suicide attempt. He was being flown to another facility to harvest his organs.

A sad accident.

[Red Wine]

Out of respect for the pilot and nurses families and the Xmas Festive season, I have been waiting to ask this question.

Was this A109 operating IFR or VFR at night?

This is a very hot topic in Australia at the moment, due to night accidents on NVFR EMS operations costing a total of eight [8] lives in four years.

[Check 6]

Red Wine, take a look at this FAA Preliminary Accident Report (http://www1.faa.gov/avr/aai/K_1224_N.txt) .

It states no flight plan filed. This would indicate that they were night VFR, however REACH is a single pilot IFR capable operation. U.S. regulations require flight following for charter flights (FAR 135), though urgueably they were on the "non-revenue" portion of their mission, i.e. en route to pick up the patient which was probably not under FAR 135.

In that area, flight following is typically done through radio contact with the Calif. Department of Forestry (CDF) at the Howard Forest Dispatch Center N. of Ukiah.

The report also provides the automated weather at the airport of departure Ukiah (KUKI).

I hope this helps.

[Red Wine]

Is anyone in a position to "confirm" this flight was a VFR rather than an IFR flight?

[Thomas coupling]

OAT and DP very close, leading to support for the local weather comments that fog forms rapidly in front of your eyes.

This guy had 12000 hours and still stoofed. It beggars belief that someone of that experience could possibly have misjudged the environment and flew beyond the point of no return?

When one considers that 70% of all aircraft crashes are pilot error. this latest incident may be down to the cold fact that at the end of the day, the weakest link in the chain is the pilot. Always has been, and until the intro of unmanned a/c, always will be.

Perhaps he died because he was human. To err is to be human.

RIP.

[helmet fire]

There, but for the grace of God, go I. RIP.


When and how do we draw the line? Can it ever be drawn?

I think there is a line, and it looks a little like this:

The patient condition highlighted in this accident is largely irrelevant for the flight crew. In a perfect world, all the flight crew should be told is that a patient requires transfer from A to B. If that is not achievable legally, adhering to wx minimums, fuel requirements, crew endurance, performance limitations, etc, then the answer is NO.

The mission can then be analysed to determine if there is ABSOLUTELY NO OTHER way to transfer, and the patient WILL die before other means can be used.

Then, and only then, the whole crew should conduct a risk management protocol to ascertain the risk/gain profile, and to identify which legality can be safely breached, and why, and with what control measures. Thats why they get paid - to make these judgement calls.

This process does not stop poor judgement, but it does require the whole crew to buy into the risk management, and if the gains are sufficiently high, it still allows the odd flight that can be attempted even though the risk is high - "that others may live".

[inthegreen]

Just to add a bit more to the discussion. I can't actually confirm that the flight was VFR, RedWine, but from the information and some checking of the enroute chart, added to the METAR it can be surmised that they would have to have been VFR. With UKI at 600 MSL, The broken layer was at 3800 MSL, the freezing level around 6000 MSL and the MEA around 6000. It doesn't give a tops report, but it was probably above 6000. REACH operates IFR, but I don't think they were intending to use it on this mission. In a tight spot, though, you'd certainly climb through it, freezing level be damned.

I don't know the specific details about the weather patterns in that area or the changes in terrain as one flies from Ukiah to Willets, but I can tell you that with the weather reported as 2500 few, 3200 bkn and 9 miles visibility I would not have hesitated in taking the call in my area, in similar terrain. I would venture a guess that those conditions are far better than a great number of nights that crew had flown in that area.

Our company operates IFR also. It is a great capability and we complete a great number of flights we otherwise wouldn't, but I have to caution myself about relying too heavily on IFR as my plan B for VFR. You tend to accept missions closer to your minimums or when the weather between reporting stations is in question. You develop a comfort with pop-up clearances and expect one will be available when you need it. The trouble is, a small bit of frequency congestion or a higher than anticipated MVA and you can find yourself circling for a while. I guess if Plan B is IFR, plan C needs to be an equally safe VFR turn towards home, which means that you actually went no further than a VFR-only aircraft. Please understand I am talking about my actions and not guessing the actions undertaken that night.

Helmet Fire, just to respond to your post: I totally agree with the first part. An EMS pilot needs to be totally removed from all details of the patient. The decision to go is based only on the factual data. I don't want to know that it's a drunk driver, which it often is, or that it is a child needing a new heart. All I want to decide is whether I can go or not based on that unemotional, objective, weather and aircraft/crew status data. About the second part, I have never had a discussion amongst my crew that we should push harder or bend the rules because the patient is a child or will die otherwise. The only case I can foresee gambling to that extent is when the patient IS my son or daughter or wife and all rationale is abandoned. I still would not ask my crew to take that risk with me, but I would do it.

Could you do that every flight, with every patient you fly, because certainly they are someone's family member? NO. You would be guaranteed to crash eventually, as we all would. In short order there would be no EMS system and no one would be transported. Its a very obscure subject with no correct answer and every pilot practicing their own unique style of survival. At the end of the day, though, the best moment is coming home to my kids at the end of the shift.

[helmet fire]

Interesting info ITG, thanks.

I think I may have given you the wrong impression of the intent of the second part of my post - what it says is that if the flight cannot be done absolutley legally, then the crew needs to identify which rules will be transgressed. I guess to go to the next stage - ie considering the risk management - you do need to know a little of the patient details, but only enough to confirm that it is a life or death situation and all other means of providing relief have failed. I dont mean that you should be told it's a little girl or a drunk driver - just that it is a life or death.

I have discussed this with the crew several times, and conducted a risk management process with them before launching on just such a flight. And I strongly believe in making the decision with ALL the crew.

An example: We landed near a Rural area Motor vehicle accident (MVA). The patient was trapped. We were forced to land nearby rather than winch in due to the presence of fog. When our team finally extricated the patient from the MVA and transported them to the aircraft, the fog had enveloped us, so now there is no legal way to do the flight. But it was life or death with no other means of transportation that the patient would survive. Taking off into the fog is illegal, but is no big deal if you had already selected a clear take off path when you could see it, you have sufficient OEI climb performance after getting to speed, and you have recently practiced zero zero take offs with an instructor, and you know the fog is only 300 ft thick with landing patches clear less then 10 miles away. All the crew agreed the risks had been sufficiently controlled, so we took off and did the job.

If you say NEVER do the flight when a legality is broken, you have denied a safe way to save a life because the rules do not envisage every scenario, and can never consider the complex risk management aspects of so many factors.