PHI EMS Accident - Sam Houston National Forest, Texas June 8th
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PHI EMS Accidents - Sam Houston National Forest, TX June 8th & Prescott, AZ June 27th
FROM HOUSTON COMMUNITY NEWS WEBSITE:
A PHI Air Medical helicopter crashed in the early hours of Sunday killing three crew members and a patient, according to Jonathan Collier, PHI's manager of business development.
The deceased are flight nurse Jana Bishop; pilot Wayne Kirby; flight paramedic Stephanie Waters; and a patient whose identity was not released pending notification of family members.
Collier said the aircraft was identified as Air Med 12, based at Coulter Field in Bryan. It was transporting a patient from a Huntsville hospital to the Texas Medical Center in Houston when it went down in the Sam Houston National Forest, he said.
A PHI Air Medical helicopter crashed in the early hours of Sunday killing three crew members and a patient, according to Jonathan Collier, PHI's manager of business development.
The deceased are flight nurse Jana Bishop; pilot Wayne Kirby; flight paramedic Stephanie Waters; and a patient whose identity was not released pending notification of family members.
Collier said the aircraft was identified as Air Med 12, based at Coulter Field in Bryan. It was transporting a patient from a Huntsville hospital to the Texas Medical Center in Houston when it went down in the Sam Houston National Forest, he said.
Last edited by zalt; 27th Jun 2008 at 17:09. Reason: Expanded title to cover June 27th accident
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These were my friends. May they rest in peace.
The pilot had more than 10,000 hours, and was still one of the most dedicated to safety of operations. A huge loss for PHI Texas.
The pilot had more than 10,000 hours, and was still one of the most dedicated to safety of operations. A huge loss for PHI Texas.
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Condolences to those of you that knew him/them.
(sadly, it's getting that I can't log onto PPRune just lately without there having been another accident)
(sadly, it's getting that I can't log onto PPRune just lately without there having been another accident)
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It is unknown at this time whether the pilot was aware of the fact that the other operator turned down the flight, prior to his accepting the flight request.
Sometimes, hospitals do not divulge the fact that another operator has already turned the flight down, when they very much desire a patient to be transferred via helicopter.
It is also unknown as to what may have caused this accident.
Sometimes, hospitals do not divulge the fact that another operator has already turned the flight down, when they very much desire a patient to be transferred via helicopter.
It is also unknown as to what may have caused this accident.
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That website won't help you if the first aircraft is still on it's way back to base after having to turn around, when you get the call- there won't be any turndown report made until the first pilot is back at base and seated in front of a computer.
That site is not the answer- there are too many scenarios that can occur where a report will not be entered in time for a second pilot to review it before walking out to his aircraft.
We need a better system.
That site is not the answer- there are too many scenarios that can occur where a report will not be entered in time for a second pilot to review it before walking out to his aircraft.
We need a better system.
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First of all, my sincere condolences to Waynes' family.
but
Maybe you should consider a Bell 407 or similar is best operated day VFR only - even a very experienced pilot as Wayne undoubtedly was - is up
s
t creek in crap weather in an unstabilised helicopter at 02:45 in the morning!
Even in a two crew fully stabilised and coupled IFR ship there are many times when NO is the only answer to a dubious callout.
Helismoke - I am sure you will agree that even with a full ATP and IR and a fair recency in IFR procedures, you can easily get out of your comfort zone with inadvertent IFR entry even in a fully capable ship with 2 x very experienced pilots such as yourself and the "Walking Fire Hydrant"!
It still amazes many of us "Tea bags" that you guys treat this type of flying as normal and acceptable!
but
That site is not the answer- there are too many scenarios that can occur where a report will not be entered in time for a second pilot to review it before walking out to his aircraft.
We need a better system.
We need a better system.
s
t creek in crap weather in an unstabilised helicopter at 02:45 in the morning! Even in a two crew fully stabilised and coupled IFR ship there are many times when NO is the only answer to a dubious callout.
Helismoke - I am sure you will agree that even with a full ATP and IR and a fair recency in IFR procedures, you can easily get out of your comfort zone with inadvertent IFR entry even in a fully capable ship with 2 x very experienced pilots such as yourself and the "Walking Fire Hydrant"!
It still amazes many of us "Tea bags" that you guys treat this type of flying as normal and acceptable!
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/health/5828422.html
On another forum there is a comment that the aircraft departed on a direct routing across the blackness of the forest, when another option would have been to follow the less direct, but well lit Interstate.
PHI Air Medical helicopter that crashed, killing a patient and all three crew members near Huntsville on Sunday, was flying a mission that a Life Flight helicopter had undertaken earlier, but cut short, driven back by low clouds.
The Life Flight helicopter was about 10 miles from Huntsville when the aircraft turned around and returned to Houston, said Tom Flanagan, chief operating officer at Memorial Hermann Hospital-The Texas Medical Center, which runs the Life Flight program.
The PHI crew based at a Bryan airport accepted the assignment after weighing the risks with a company adviser — an experienced pilot — in Phoenix.
"The crew had a conversation with the EOC (the pilot at enhanced operational control in Phoenix)," said PHI Air Medical spokesman Jonathan Collier. "He gave recommendations, and they decided to go. We are conducting a full investigation."
About 90 minutes after Life Flight turned back, PHI's helicopter crashed into pine trees in Sam Houston National Forest shortly before 3 a.m., killing patient David Disman, 58, and the crew.
______
A Life Flight helicopter was dispatched from Memorial Hermann to Huntsville at 12:45 a.m. The helicopter was about three or four minutes from Huntsville Memorial when it encountered low clouds, Flanagan said.
The Life Flight pilots were not supposed to fly when clouds were lower than 1,000 feet, and as the crew flew toward Huntsville, the cloud cover started at about 700 feet. The pilot turned his chopper around.
______
After Life Flight aborted the mission, Huntsville Memorial officials called PHI Air Medical and another helicopter company, the son said.
I believe Life Flight fly a TAWS equipped BK117. Neither operator uses NVG though Life Flight are due to get them later this year.The Life Flight helicopter was about 10 miles from Huntsville when the aircraft turned around and returned to Houston, said Tom Flanagan, chief operating officer at Memorial Hermann Hospital-The Texas Medical Center, which runs the Life Flight program.
The PHI crew based at a Bryan airport accepted the assignment after weighing the risks with a company adviser — an experienced pilot — in Phoenix.
"The crew had a conversation with the EOC (the pilot at enhanced operational control in Phoenix)," said PHI Air Medical spokesman Jonathan Collier. "He gave recommendations, and they decided to go. We are conducting a full investigation."
About 90 minutes after Life Flight turned back, PHI's helicopter crashed into pine trees in Sam Houston National Forest shortly before 3 a.m., killing patient David Disman, 58, and the crew.
______
A Life Flight helicopter was dispatched from Memorial Hermann to Huntsville at 12:45 a.m. The helicopter was about three or four minutes from Huntsville Memorial when it encountered low clouds, Flanagan said.
The Life Flight pilots were not supposed to fly when clouds were lower than 1,000 feet, and as the crew flew toward Huntsville, the cloud cover started at about 700 feet. The pilot turned his chopper around.
______
After Life Flight aborted the mission, Huntsville Memorial officials called PHI Air Medical and another helicopter company, the son said.
On another forum there is a comment that the aircraft departed on a direct routing across the blackness of the forest, when another option would have been to follow the less direct, but well lit Interstate.
Last edited by zalt; 12th Jun 2008 at 01:16.
If the hospital had one company turn back due to weather, why did they then think another could do it? They should have accepted it was a marginal night and arranged road transport.
There is a depressing number of threads similar to this on this forum.
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...lovakia&page=2
There is a depressing number of threads similar to this on this forum.
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...lovakia&page=2
How many times do we ignore this FAA Regulation?
§135.207 VFR: Helicopter surface reference requirements.
No person may operate a helicopter under VFR unless that person has visual surface reference or, at night, visual surface light reference, sufficient to safely control the helicopter.
No person may operate a helicopter under VFR unless that person has visual surface reference or, at night, visual surface light reference, sufficient to safely control the helicopter.
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Zalt: There are numerous inaccuracies in your post.
LifeFlight now operates only EC-145's.
At present, it appears that the PHI pilot was never advised that LifeFlight had earlier accepted the flight and then aborted enroute due to weather.
Had the PHI pilot known this, he never would have accepted the flight.
This is not unusual, as hospitals are under no duty to provide this information to HEMS providers.
And guys, we still don't know what caused this accident. I understand what all the signs point to, but a few things need to be ruled out first, before we begin pointing fingers.
Additionally, nearly every PHI EMS helicopter is NVG equipped, however, this particular helicopter was not.
LifeFlight has never had NVG's on any of their helicopters, and before this most recent accident occurred, LifeFlight had never announced to anyone that they had ever placed an order for NVG's (if they actually had placed an order, believe me- it would have been a large part of their ongoing marketing campaign in competition with PHI). It is suspected that this accident prompted LifeFlight to act swiftly and finally order NVG's for their EC-145's. They claim that they will have them by December; if they don't get them by Dec, then it will be abundantly clear that they were not being straight-up with the media and were using this tragic loss of life as an opportunity to advance their own program.
I hope they do get NVG's.... God knows, they need them.
LifeFlight now operates only EC-145's.
At present, it appears that the PHI pilot was never advised that LifeFlight had earlier accepted the flight and then aborted enroute due to weather.
Had the PHI pilot known this, he never would have accepted the flight.
This is not unusual, as hospitals are under no duty to provide this information to HEMS providers.
And guys, we still don't know what caused this accident. I understand what all the signs point to, but a few things need to be ruled out first, before we begin pointing fingers.
Additionally, nearly every PHI EMS helicopter is NVG equipped, however, this particular helicopter was not.
LifeFlight has never had NVG's on any of their helicopters, and before this most recent accident occurred, LifeFlight had never announced to anyone that they had ever placed an order for NVG's (if they actually had placed an order, believe me- it would have been a large part of their ongoing marketing campaign in competition with PHI). It is suspected that this accident prompted LifeFlight to act swiftly and finally order NVG's for their EC-145's. They claim that they will have them by December; if they don't get them by Dec, then it will be abundantly clear that they were not being straight-up with the media and were using this tragic loss of life as an opportunity to advance their own program.
I hope they do get NVG's.... God knows, they need them.
Last edited by TheVelvetGlove; 12th Jun 2008 at 03:35.
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Good blog on the ailments of the US EMS industry
VG - I stand corrected145s nor 117s - though it does make a stronger point about new twin engined aircraft. I standby the expectations of NVG introduction at Life Flight. I apologise for implying PHI did not use NVGs anywhere - sloppy wording on my part. But the PHI operation in this case did not have them (any ideas why) and it may have been fatal. The rest of my post was purely press story so go quibble with them.
MEANWHILE
This item by medic Bryan Bledsoe is well worth a read:
http://www.ems1.com/ambulances-emerg...ght-Ill-Say-It
Includes:
"On May 24, 2008, the National EMS Memorial Service recognized 73 of our brothers and sisters who gave their lives in the line of duty. Interestingly, 37 of those individuals died as a result of a medical aviation accident. Stated another way, nearly 51 percent of the entire memorial is tied to medical aviation incidents. In the last few weeks, we have had four medical helicopter crashes:
The University of Wisconsin’s Med Flight crashed on May 10, 2008, killing three. They were returning following transfer of an elderly patient with an intracranial hemorrhage who later died.
On May 29, 2008, an Aero Med helicopter crashed on the roof of Spectrum Hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich. The FAA observer and pilot got out of the aircraft before it was consumed by fire. They were rescued by the Grand Rapids Fire Department. Jet A fuel leaked into the top few floors and most of the hospital was closed as a result.
On June 6, 2008, Lehigh Valley’s MedEvac 7 crashed into a freight yard in Pottsville, Pa. while en route to a motorcycle accident. Fortunately, the crewmembers suffered only minor injuries and were removed from the wreckage by citizens who came to their aid.
On June 7, 2008, a PHI helicopter from Bryan, Texas crashed in Sam Houston National Forest just a few minutes after leaving Huntsville Memorial Hospital in Huntsville, Texas. They were transferring a 58-year-old man with a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm to a hospital in Houston. The patient and the crew were all killed. Interestingly, Life Flight of Houston had originally started to make the flight, but aborted the flight when weather conditions deteriorated. The PHI team launched after conferring with the operations center in Phoenix, Ariz. "
The author goes on to explain why US EMS developed differently to that in the rest of the world, why the system is to sick and who are responsible.
MEANWHILE
This item by medic Bryan Bledsoe is well worth a read:
http://www.ems1.com/ambulances-emerg...ght-Ill-Say-It
Includes:
"On May 24, 2008, the National EMS Memorial Service recognized 73 of our brothers and sisters who gave their lives in the line of duty. Interestingly, 37 of those individuals died as a result of a medical aviation accident. Stated another way, nearly 51 percent of the entire memorial is tied to medical aviation incidents. In the last few weeks, we have had four medical helicopter crashes:
The University of Wisconsin’s Med Flight crashed on May 10, 2008, killing three. They were returning following transfer of an elderly patient with an intracranial hemorrhage who later died.
On May 29, 2008, an Aero Med helicopter crashed on the roof of Spectrum Hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich. The FAA observer and pilot got out of the aircraft before it was consumed by fire. They were rescued by the Grand Rapids Fire Department. Jet A fuel leaked into the top few floors and most of the hospital was closed as a result.
On June 6, 2008, Lehigh Valley’s MedEvac 7 crashed into a freight yard in Pottsville, Pa. while en route to a motorcycle accident. Fortunately, the crewmembers suffered only minor injuries and were removed from the wreckage by citizens who came to their aid.
On June 7, 2008, a PHI helicopter from Bryan, Texas crashed in Sam Houston National Forest just a few minutes after leaving Huntsville Memorial Hospital in Huntsville, Texas. They were transferring a 58-year-old man with a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm to a hospital in Houston. The patient and the crew were all killed. Interestingly, Life Flight of Houston had originally started to make the flight, but aborted the flight when weather conditions deteriorated. The PHI team launched after conferring with the operations center in Phoenix, Ariz. "
The author goes on to explain why US EMS developed differently to that in the rest of the world, why the system is to sick and who are responsible.
Last edited by zalt; 15th Jun 2008 at 22:56.
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Not to mention the Valley AirCare helicopter that crashed in Laguna Madre Bay near Corpus Christi with three fatalities in February.
http://www.flightweb.com/backend/flightweb-acc.rdf
http://www.flightweb.com/backend/flightweb-acc.rdf
One Gold Star to Dr. Bledsoe!
I found very little to disagree with in his article....he definitely knows of what he is talking about.
Imagine being out in the dark night, landing beside an accident scene, knowing you will be doing a max weight takeoff, in weather conditions of 800/1sm in a JetRanger.
It was bad enough in a Bell 412 or a BK-117 but the thought of doing that kind of work in a 206 scares me silly!
I found very little to disagree with in his article....he definitely knows of what he is talking about.
Imagine being out in the dark night, landing beside an accident scene, knowing you will be doing a max weight takeoff, in weather conditions of 800/1sm in a JetRanger.
It was bad enough in a Bell 412 or a BK-117 but the thought of doing that kind of work in a 206 scares me silly!