Air Ambulance crashes at Headland Airport Alabama

[nomorehelosforme]

The pilot apparently suffered a heart attack while trying to land.

Headland (WTVY)-- The pilot of a medical helicopter that crashed Christmas afternoon has died.

61-year old Douglas Davis suffered an apparent heart attack while landing the air ambulance at the Headland Airport. .

Henry County Coroner Derek Wright said an autopsy will be performed but he believes Davis most likely suffered a heart attack.

The crew of three had been on a call in the Florida panhandle and was returning to the Headland Airport where Survivor Flight 15 is based.

The helicopter landed upside down a short distance from the designated landing area.

The crash happened about 5:00 Wednesday afternoon.

Statement from Survival Flight:HEADLAND, AL – On December 25th, a Survival Flight pilot in Alabama tragically passed away after experiencing a sudden heart attack while returning from a cancelled flight, according to preliminary information from the Henry County Coroner. There we no patients on board. Somehow, Doug Davis heroically brought the helicopter completely back to base and nearly landed it normally, the helicopter rolling onto its side at the last second. Because of what he was able to do, our two other crewmembers on board the helicopter suffered no injuries and they began lifesaving efforts on the pilot almost immediately. Sadly, he was later pronounced dead at the hospital. While we’ll wait for an official cause of death from medical authorities, we have no doubt that Doug saved the lives of our two crewmembers and perhaps others with his final act.

We’ve spoken with his wife and conveyed our utmost sadness and our deepest thanks. As a company, we’ll help her with everything we can as she and her family deal with this unexpected tragedy. Additionally, we’ll be offering counseling and emotional support to our crewmembers.



https://www.wtvy.com/content/news/Air-ambulance-apparently-crashes-at-Headland-airport-566479611.html

[[email protected]]

It is a very sad event but what level of screening and mandatory checks would a 61 year old have gone through such that a heart attack was a surprise?

I am soon to be 59 and have ECGs every 6 months, have recently had a stress-test ECG and Echo CardioGram to check for valve function and ventricular wall thickening and was put on the lowest level of hypertension medication as soon as my BP went even marginally high. If I were to keel over tomorrow, I think my wife and my employers would ask how.

[n5296s]

Not sure if you're asking the question, but if he was an ATP then for a Class 1 medical in the US he would need an ECG every 6 months. However there's no FAA requirement for him to be an ATP, and if he's just a CPL flying on a Class 2 medical then in my experience being able to walk into the AME's office is pretty much what it takes.

[aa777888]

The surprise is that it is an exceedingly difficult thing to predict. You wouldn't think so, but it is.

I was an EMT for eight years, my wife for 15, and we've had ample opportunity to observe this problem up close, so to speak. I've even chatted up doc's about it, because I was skeptical, too (that was when I was learning that pre-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates are below 2%, no matter what you see on TV). It turns out that the best radiological techniques, even going to the cath lab (angiography) which is the best diagnostic of all, might tell you that there is some atherosclerosis, but doesn't predict heart attacks very well unless the atherosclerosis is so severe that they immediately place a stent during the cath, or schedule bypass surgery immediately.

Consider, for example, someone who goes in to the doc for chest pain. Diagnosed as not a heart attack, but out of an abundance of caution they get a stress echo, EKG, etc. and pass all the tests. They might even have acceptable cholesterol levels. Then, bam, a week later that same someone kicks the bucket. Seen it/heard it many times. Such a person could even have an invasive diagnostic like a cardiac catheterization done on a Monday. Then, diagnosed with atherosclerosis but not to the extent that a bypass or stent is required, the doc puts them on statins on Tuesday, and they are dead of a heart attack on Wednesday. They throw a clot, or an artery spasms, or something just spontaneously clogs. It happens all the time. Worse still is the person who is otherwise super healthy. Great shape, beautiful EKG, nothing heard, noticed or felt on exam. Low cholesterol. No reason for an expensive CT and like hell are they going to send you to the cath lab. No reason to suspect there's a time bomb. It's also possible that the heart attack was electrical in nature. Your EKG could be totally normal on a Monday and something goes sideways with your heart's electrical system on Tuesday. There's just no way to predict something like that.

You need to hope that when and if your time comes to stare down the barrel of the cardiovascular disease gun you get some obvious but non-fatal warning signs and symptoms. Certainly that happens a fair bit as well, but not nearly as often as you might think, and many times those signs and symptoms are ignored because denial is part of the disease process.

[helonorth]

It is a very sad event but what level of screening and mandatory checks would a 61 year old have gone through such that a heart attack was a surprise?

I am soon to be 59 and have ECGs every 6 months, have recently had a stress-test ECG and Echo CardioGram to check for valve function and ventricular wall thickening and was put on the lowest level of hypertension medication as soon as my BP went even marginally high. If I were to keel over tomorrow, I think my wife and my employers would ask how.
Sounds like you've been eating cheeseburgers all your life with all that going on. I don't think anybody would be asking.

[wrench1]

It is a very sad event but what level of screening and mandatory checks would a 61 year old have gone through such that a heart attack was a surprise?.
There are a number of reasons, but short of chronic diagnosed heart disease, regardless how many preventative/clinical procedures you go through none can predict with 100% certainty you won't experience a surprise heart stoppage. Ask your doctor the next time you get a check-up what percentage his on you not having a heart stoppage in the next 6 mos. Have seen people who were a pillar of health drop dead due to a blood clot movement or other surprising issue to include 2 pilots that landed on a platform and died before they could shutdown the aircraft.

[SASless]

:=Knowing Crab as I do....should he drop dead suddenly....the warning would be that the one he ignores from his Missus!:oh:

[Radgirl]

The reality is that the number of heart attacks is plummeting in the western world. An ECG plus an exercise ECG at 60 is pure screening and we could add cardiac CT and other tests but there is the issue of cost vs return as well as the conundrum of what to do with an abnormal result in an asymptomatic pilot.....

Statins do reduce the incidence of sudden death which is why many doctors take them. However the main risk factors are smoking, diet, obesity, family history, exercise and hypertension. Hopefully this is common knowledge amongst professional pilots with an interest in preserving their medicals.

So RIP Douglas Davis but no need for the rest of us to panic.

[[email protected]]

The cardiologist I saw when my BP was called into question highlighted the 3 main factors concerning BP - genetics (about which you can do nothing), Age (again nothing you can do) and diet/exercise (which you can do something about but has so little effect compared to the other two.

Like so much in life it is a bit of a lottery.

Helonorth - as for cheeseburgers - no, not me. I have always kept myself fit and healthy but all the good diet and exercise in the world won't make my BP at 58 the same as it was at 18.

My very mild hypertension was massively reduced by a very small dose of Ramipril and my ECG and echocardiograms show a completely healthy heart - we are fortunate as pilots having to conform to Class 1 and military medical standards - unlike many, we get investigated and treated before it is too late.

Sas - you're not wrong there:ok:

[deja vu]

RIP Douglas Davis

Like many other pilots I had an ECG every 6 months for many years, including stress ECGs, nothing particularly unusual showed apart from a non typical Q wave that I had all my aviation career. At 58 I was forced to undergo a full on angiogram at great expense and inconvenience if my medical was to be renewed. The report from that procedure was that I had the "heart of a 16 year old". I am sure now that this report made me feel "bullet proof"

I retired after turning 60 and 8 months later had a serious heart attack, less than 2 years after the angiogram. Numerous stents were installed followed by multiple by-pass surgery. I now take multiple medications and have limited capacity for any sort of exertion, but I'm still here, gratefully

For the benefit of others I never experienced what I believed were typical symptoms of heart disease, chest pains and the like, rather an occasional throb/pain in my throat and it seems that is not unusual. Be aware, we are all different.

[army_av8r]

i dont know what to say, i worked with Doug until the first of December training AH-64D pilots in the army. Doug was such a great person and such a pleasure to work with. he decided to move over to headland flying EMS to have a better schedule (7 on, 7 off) so he and his wife could travel more. i obviously dont know his detailed medical history, but he was a very healthy fit individual for 61 years old. I never would have guessed that this could happen. im thankful that he was able to alert the med crew and land the helicopter relatively unscathed. the fact that he fought the helicopter all the way to the ground during a major medical event is by far the best way to describe the kind of genuine person Doug was. visitation will be Saturday January 4th here in the Dothan area. from all of us in 3rd platoon, we truly miss you and everyone is proud to call you a friend!