South Carolina EMS Helicopter Crash

[SASless]

The names have been released and some details are emerging.

BREAKING NEWS: Medical helicopter was attempting landing at time of crash | SCNow

NTSB: Helicopter trying to divert to Georgetown because of weather - WMBF News | Myrtle Beach/Florence,SC | News, Weather and Sports-


Frontal passage occurred just about that time....temp/dewpoint spread was close and rain started as well.

Excellent graphics at avnwx.com, a free web site in the US, where you can overlay the Surface Analysis Chart and antimated weather radar returns on the map along with a host of other services including flight planning.

Here's an AWOS/ASOS printout for last night:

ALL TIMES EDT:

Crash Site Located Nearby This Airport.KGGE (Georgetown County Airport, SC):

NOTAM: 08/002 - SVC AWOS OTS. WIE UNTIL UFN. CREATED: 03 AUG 14:16 2009



KHYW (Conway, SC – 33nm N of KGGE (Georgetown, SC))
9:35 PM
73.4 °F
71.6 °F
94%
30.10 in
10.0 miles
NE
4.6 mph
-
N/A
Thunderstorm
Thunderstorm

METAR KHYW 260135Z AUTO 04004KT 10SM TS OVC014 23/22 A3010 RMK AO2 LTG DSNT S AND SW

9:55 PM
73.4 °F
71.6 °F
94%
30.11 in
10.0 miles
Calm
Calm
-
N/A

Overcast

METAR KHYW 260155Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM VCTS OVC014 23/22 A3011 RMK AO2 LTG DSNT SW

10:15 PM
73.4 °F
71.6 °F
94%
30.12 in
10.0 miles
Calm
Calm
-
N/A
Rain
Rain

METAR KHYW 260215Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM RA OVC011 23/22 A3012 RMK AO2

10:35 PM
73.4 °F
71.6 °F
94%
30.12 in
10.0 miles
Calm
Calm
-
N/A

Light Drizzle

METAR KHYW 260235Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM -DZ OVC011 23/22 A3012 RMK AO2 LTG DSNT SW

10:55 PM
73.4 °F
71.6 °F
94%
30.12 in
10.0 miles
North
3.5 mph
-
N/A
Rain
Light Rain

METAR KHYW 260255Z AUTO 01003KT 10SM -RA SCT009 BKN016 OVC020 23/22 A3012 RMK AO2

11:15 PM Within one minute of last contact with the aircraft
73.4 °F
71.6 °F
94%
30.12 in
7.0 miles
Calm
Calm
-
N/A
Rain
Rain

METAR KHYW 260315Z AUTO 00000KT 7SM RA SCT018 OVC026 23/22 A3012 RMK AO2 LTG DSNT S

11:35 PM
73.4 °F
71.6 °F
94%
30.12 in
7.0 miles
Calm
Calm
-
N/A
Rain
Light Rain

METAR KHYW 260335Z AUTO 00000KT 7SM -RA SCT011 OVC026 23/22 A3012 RMK AO2

11:55 PM
73.4 °F
71.6 °F
94%
30.13 in
7.0 miles
North
6.9 mph
-
N/A

Drizzle

METAR KHYW 260355Z AUTO 01006KT 7SM DZ BKN004 OVC011 23/22 A3013 RMK AO2



KMYR (Myrtle Beach, SC – 30nm NE of KGGE (Georgetown, SC)):

8:50 PM
73.4 °F
71.6 °F
94%
30.10 in
8.0 miles
East
6.9 mph
-
N/A

Overcast

METAR KMYR 260050Z 09006KT 8SM SCT012 OVC065 23/22 A3010 TS S MOVG S
9:50 PM
73.4 °F
73.4 °F
100%
30.13 in
10.0 miles
Calm
Calm
-
N/A

Mostly Cloudy

METAR KMYR 260150Z 00000KT 10SM BKN007 23/23 A3013

10:55 PM
73.4 °F
71.6 °F
94%
30.15 in
10.0 miles
North
8.1 mph
-
N/A

Mostly Cloudy

METAR KMYR 260255Z 01007KT 10SM FEW005 BKN016 BKN049 23/22 A3015 RMK AO1 LTG DSNT S

11:15 PM
73.4 °F
73.4 °F
100%
30.15 in
10.0 miles
North
8.1 mph
-
N/A

Mostly Cloudy

METAR KMYR 260315Z AUTO 01007KT 10SM FEW008 SCT020 BKN044 23/23 A3015 RMK AO1

11:35 PM 73.4 °F
73.4 °F
100%
30.15 in
10.0 miles
North
5.8 mph
-
N/A

Overcast

METAR KMYR 260335Z AUTO 01005KT 10SM BKN016 BKN032 OVC049 23/23 A3015 RMK AO1

11:55 PM
73.4 °F
71.6 °F
94%
30.15 in
10.0 miles
North
5.8 mph
-
N/A

Overcast

METAR KMYR 260355Z AUTO 01005KT 10SM BKN014 OVC021 23/22 A3015 RMK AO1





KLRO (Mt. Pleasant, SC – 34nm SW of KGGE (Georgetown, SC)):

Vicinity of Take Off Location

9:35 PM
75.2 °F
71.6 °F
89%
30.06 in
10.0 miles
Calm
Calm
-
N/A

Clear

METAR KLRO 260135Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 24/22 A3006 RMK AO2 LTG DSNT N
9:55 PM
75.2 °F
71.6 °F
89%
30.07 in
10.0 miles
Calm
Calm
-
N/A

Clear

METAR KLRO 260155Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 24/22 A3007 RMK AO2 LTG DSNT N
10:15 PM
73.4 °F
73.4 °F
100%
30.07 in
10.0 miles
Calm
Calm
-
N/A

Partly Cloudy

METAR KLRO 260215Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM FEW085 23/23 A3007 RMK AO2

10:35 PM
73.4 °F
73.4 °F
100%
30.07 in
10.0 miles
Calm
Calm
-
N/A

Partly Cloudy

METAR KLRO 260235Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM FEW085 23/23 A3007 RMK AO2

10:55 PM
75.2 °F
71.6 °F
89%
30.10 in
10.0 miles
North
10.4 mph
17.3 mph
N/A

Mostly Cloudy

METAR KLRO 260255Z AUTO 36009G15KT 10SM SCT019 BKN033 BKN050 24/22 A3010 RMK AO2

11:15 PM
75.2 °F
71.6 °F
89%
30.10 in
10.0 miles
North
5.8 mph
-
N/A

Mostly Cloudy

METAR KLRO 260315Z AUTO 36005KT 10SM VCTS FEW021 SCT047 BKN080 24/22 A3010 RMK AO2 LTG DSNT NE

11:35 PM
75.2 °F
71.6 °F
89%
30.10 in
10.0 miles
Calm
Calm
-
N/A

Scattered Clouds

METAR KLRO 260335Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM SCT047 24/22 A3010 RMK AO2

11:55 PM
73.4 °F
71.6 °F
94%
30.11 in
10.0 miles
NNE
6.9 mph
-
N/A

Mostly Cloudy

METAR KLRO 260355Z AUTO 03006KT 030V360 10SM BKN049 23/22 A3011 RMK AO2 LTG DSNT E




KCHS (Charleston, SC – Origination point; 43nm WSW of KGGE (Georgetown, SC))
8:56 PM
78.1 °F
73.0 °F
84%
30.04 in
10.0 miles
SSW
5.8 mph
-
N/A

Scattered Clouds

METAR KCHS 260056Z 20005KT 10SM FEW040 SCT070 26/23 A3004 RMK AO2 SLP173 FRQ LTGICCC DSNT N-NE CB DSNT N-NE T02560228

9:56 PM
78.1 °F
73.0 °F
84%
30.06 in
10.0 miles
SSW
5.8 mph
-
N/A

Partly Cloudy

METAR KCHS 260156Z 20005KT 10SM FEW070 26/23 A3006 RMK AO2 SLP180 OCNL LTGIC DSNT NE CB DSNT NE T02560228

10:56 PM
79.0 °F
73.0 °F
82%
30.09 in
10.0 miles
NNE
12.7 mph
-
N/A

Mostly Cloudy

METAR KCHS 260256Z 02011KT 10SM SCT020 BKN060 BKN080 26/23 A3009 RMK AO2 SLP189 T02610228 53020

11:56 PM
75.0 °F
72.0 °F
90%
30.10 in
10.0 miles
NE
12.7 mph
-
0.00 in
Rain
Light Rain

METAR KCHS 260356Z 05011KT 10SM -RA SCT041 BKN085 24/22 A3010 RMK AO2 RAB28 SLP193 P0000 T02390222

[Gordy]

See News Link Here

GEORGETOWN COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - Investigators are saying the medical helicopter that crashed in Georgetown County late Friday night killing all three of its crew members was trying to divert to the Georgetown County Airport.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Robert Sumwalt said Saturday the helicopter encountered inclement weather and was attempting to land when it crashed near Whitehall Avenue and US-17.

Sumwalt said the pilot reported clear weather when he left MUSC, but reported severe weather as they began to approach the Georgetown County area.

The company that owned the helicopter, Addison, TX-based Omniflight says the helicopter, traveling from Charleston to Conway, crashed 63 miles into its flight along a wooded area of Whitehall Road off of US-17 in Georgetown County, killing its crew.

Omniflight said 45-year-old pilot Patrick Walters of Murrells Inlet; 42-year-old flight nurse Diana Conner of Florence; and 39-year-old paramedic Randolph Claxton Dove of Bladenboro, NC, died in the Friday night crash.

NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson says no patients were on board.

Georgetown County Coroner Kenny Johnson said the bodies of the victims were taken to MUSC, but were having difficulties identifying the victims' bodies because they were severely burned.

Sumwalt said in a press conference Saturday evening that the helicopter was destroyed at the crash site. Early examinations by the NTSB's lead investigation show the chopper impacted the ground nose first and there was no sign of in-flight fire.

The fire consumed the debris after impact, Sumwalt explained, noting there was no cockpit recorder or flight recorder because it is not required in this type of helicopter.

Sumwalt said investigators are preparing the site for rain Saturday night and plan to return to the scene of the crash early Sunday, specifically looking at tree strike angles.

Georgetown County officials have not been able to locate any witnesses, and are actively looking for anyone that may have seen or heard the crash. They are working to open a witness tip line.

On its website, 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 in a statement Saturday.

Omniflight Vice President Joel Hochhalter says the American Eurocopter AS350B2 was the only helicopter based in Conway, and the company is suspending service for the time being. When crews are able to resume service, Hochhalter said the company will send another chopper.

NTSB records show the aircraft was damaged during a May 2008 incident.

According to the NTSB, a pilot preparing for takeoff from Caffery Heliport in Hiram, GA, said the helicopter began to shake violently as he advanced the throttle. Immediately shutting down the helicopter, he told investigators he saw extensive damage to the main rotor.

An audit of maintenance records showed that the rotor should have been replaced almost 600 flight hours earlier, the report showed. Omniflight immediately audited its other helicopters, and no other rotors were shown as overdue for replacement.

NTSB records also show that another similar helicopter, also operated by Omniflight, was involved in another incident in South Carolina. On July 2, another Eurocopter was damaged when it struck steel poles adjacent to the helipad at Loris Community Hospital Heliport.

No one was injured. The pilot continued the landing and performed an emergency engine shutdown, records show.

Hochhalter noted the 2000-model helicopter only had about 1,350 service hours on it, and was a third of its way through its service life, adding it was reliable. He said the helicopter had never had mechanical problems and to talk about what went wrong would be "pure speculation." The helicopter is equipped with a satellite tracking system, Hochhalter explained, which last tracked at 12:38 p.m.

At a press conference at Georgetown County Airport with officials from Omniflight and Midway Fire-Rescue and Georgetown County officials, Sam Hodge, manager of Georgetown County Emergency Management, said it's too early to rule out what might have caused the crash.

The helicopter was scheduled to be featured at the Georgetown Fire and Life Safety Expo on Saturday. Organizers opted to continue with the event after the crash, and dedicated the expo in honor of the three victims.

"It's a major loss," said Surfside Beach Fire Marshal Greg Faulkenberry, who knew the victims, noting they had become family over his 15 years of service. "These folks I've worked with and now to know that they gone, it's just… it's a member of your family. There's no two ways about it. The fire services, EMS, police - we are all a big family, no matter what role you do. To lose a part of that family, it just really hurts."

Officials say they lost contact with the American Eurocopter AS350B2 helicopter around 11:18 p.m. A search was initiated shortly after the aircraft failed to report to Omniflight's communication center.

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.

Hodge said it has been more than 10 years since an aircraft went down in Georgetown County, and since 1980 since a helicopter crashed there.

A Regional One Medical Air Service helicopter crashed in a heavily wooded area near Jalapa, SC after picking up a patient in Northern Newberry County in July 2004. Three Spartanburg rescue workers and a patient onboard were killed in that accident.

NTSB and officials with the FAA are on the scene investigating and plan to be in Georgetown County for about five days. Officials expect to publish a preliminary crash report within the next week.

The NTSB is making safety recommendations for medical choppers after 2008, the deadliest year ever for the medical helicopter industry - 23 crew members and five patients died in seven accidents in 2008. Medical helicopters are not regulated by the NTSB, but according to the Washington Post, the agency recommended choppers use terrain warning systems, flight data records and night vision systems.

Earlier this month, NTSB officials urged the government to impose stricter controls on emergency helicopter operators citing last year's record number of fatalities. There were nine accidents between December 2007 and October 2008, killing 35 people.

There have been three accidents since then, but no fatalities reported until the South Carolina crash.

©2009 WMBF News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[aecpilot]

Absoulutely hate to hijack this thread because it hits so close to home but you wouldn't happen to be 84-03 would you?

[SASless]

Who are you directing your question to.....but the answer is probably "no" for the two of us!

[SASless]

The following link will take you to an article about the crash and contains four large photos of the crash scene and what little remains of the aircraft.

Continued VFR Flight into IFR conditions.....compounded by Thunderstorm activity....in an aircraft without Weather Radar, Autopilot, or NVG's. A perfect recipe for disaster! Again!

Slideshows | SCNow

[Kulwin Park]

Tradgegy to hear ... EMS people always try to do a great job in the worst circumstances at times when duty calls!

But for the non-Americana's, what is a 84-03 as mentioned above??

[SASless]

A photo of the crew killed in the crash.....

[Ian Corrigible]

To add to SAS's earlier posts: No malfunction before SC medical helicopter crash - The Associated Press

(Kulwin Park - 84-03 would be the third pilot training course (Army/AF etc.) to graduate in 1984. Prior to 1969 alphanumeric designations were used, e.g. 68 Charlie).

I/C

[HelicopterBravo9]

A sad day, does beg the question as to why they were out VFR at night in those conditions.

Do you think this sort of thing should continue? Or atleast as IFR, twin engine and 2 pilot op's? Or just operate day VFR like the UK?

I cant say as I think its very different out there and have no knowledge of flying in the U.S.
So it is litterally just a question to those, preferably with knowledge of HEMS op's both sides of the pond.

Would Daylight hours VFR HEMS work in the States or could you just not manage?

[SASless]

Folks need EMS services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year....sudden illness and trauma injuries happen all through the day and night.

Perhaps a realization by EMS crews that they are not "GOD" and thus cannot save every life would be a very good start in the right direction. They provide a very neccessary and worthwhile service but they have to accept the fact that people die every day and will continue to die. The world survived without EMS helicopters and in the days of old...did so without ground ambulances and highly skilled EMT's, Paramedics, and sophisticated equipment.

Next....a change in mindset about hospital transfers and eliminating flights for those who do not really warrant transport by helicopter. The change can be filtered by the existing weather conditions on top of just the patient status and location of the patient at the time of call out.

Not one of these EMS crews we have lost in the past twenty years set out to kill themselves....but yet we see a constant tragic loss of Crews and continue to see them lost to the very same causes year after year.

It is disgusting to see the industry continuing to operate the same way, taking such losses, and thinking they can achieve a different outcome.

These folks that wind up being memorialized are not Heroes and deserve no great outpouring of accolades when they pass on. That does not take away from their dedication and professionalism that marked their calling but we have to one day finally see these crashes for what they are.....failures.

If the machine has a mechanical or avionics failure that renders the machine unflyable that is one thing but to have a perfectly sound aircraft fly into the ground at night and/or in bad weather is neither noble or heroic and must be prevented.

How we do that is a whole different kettle of fish. I maintain the pilot is the absolute key to the solution. It starts with training, experience, and providing them with the best equipment, a supportive infrastructure that provides up to date information, accurate information, and is design built to relieve the pilot from any kind of pressure, real, direct, indirect, or of the pilot's on doing.

The one thing we cannot seem to accomplish is to teach "judgement" and "decision making" to a degree we equip the pilot with the necessary skills and plain old "backbone" to say "NO!".

This latest crash is an example worth looking at.

I don't know about you....but when I read weather reports that talk of Thunderstorms along my route of flight....I immediately say "NO". If I have not read the weather and I see lots of lightning in front of me....I turn around....again saying "NO". If I encounter weather that is significantly worse than I expected....that word pops up again...."No".

Any analysis of the weather that night would show weather to be an important issue....as there was a frontal passage expected with the resulting change in weather one gets with such things. Add in the issue of "night" and the area where the flight takes place....it is dark there....lots of forest, swampy areas, and water.

The question I pose....How did the system allow this flight to proceed into the weather it did? We lost another crew....all fine people....but why?

[SASless]

According to the NTSB, a pilot preparing for takeoff from Caffery Heliport in Hiram, Ga., said the same helicopter began to shake violently as he advanced the throttle. Immediately shutting down the helicopter, he told investigators he saw extensive damage to the main rotor.

An audit of maintenance records showed that the rotor should have been replaced almost 600 flight hours earlier, the report showed. Omniflight immediately audited its other helicopters, and no other rotors were shown as overdue for replacement.

Omniflight has a speckled history at best.

Part of a post I made years ago here.....

This article was found at Just Helicopters and was published at News, Weather and Sports for Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa , quotes a newspaper article. If true...makes Management at Omniflight look a bit desparate for pilots. South Dakota can be a very dark place at night. Sounds darker than normal somehow.

Pilot, two Medical crew, and the patient were all killed in a night-time crash in foggy weather. Pilot was alledged to be on a 25 flying hour probation when it occurred. Reckon he failed the probation?



CAREFLIGHT Crash Settlement

New evidence has uncovered pilot error was the reason Avera St. Lukes CAREFLIGHT helicopter crashed on September 9th, 2002, killing all four people on board.

As a result, the family of flight paramedic Andy Willey was awarded a 2.2 million dollar settlement by the helicopter owner Omniflight when investigators uncovered that pilot Masaaki Suzuki was not qualified to fly under certain night time conditions. Investigators hired by Willey's lawyers also say there was no mechanical problems with the helicopter.

Suzuki had close calls before when he flew CAREFLIGHT and it has been revealed that even Gail Houck and Andy Willey did not want to fly with Suzuki on the night the aircraft crashed. But what's more troubling is a large company's refusal to fix a problem everyone knew it had.

Its a sight few will ever forget as investigators surround the crash site of CAREFLIGHT in a field just outside of Doland. Omniflight owned the helicopter and also was in charge of training it's pilot Masaaki Suzuki.

Attorney Ken Gosch says, "This was a pilot who had known limitations and placed on probation. They were short of pilots, they had two pilots working on the night shift because this pilot wasn't allowed to work night shift. The company released him to work night shift on the condition that they would see how he did over the next 25 hours."

Investigators have discovered that even company officials told Omniflight that Suzuki was not a good pilot.

Gosch: "There was a memo that said "how much risk are we willing to take letting him get on the job training." Five flight hours latter he flew that aircraft into the ground killing four people."

It is believed Suzuki became disoriented in the foggy skies near Doland and tried to turn back to Aberdeen when the helicopter crashed. Now Omniflight admits some negligence in the training of Suzuki and settled a law suit from Willey's family out of court. Omniflight wanted to keep the settlement a secret, but Gosch told them he would never agree to those terms.

Gosch: "I want the public to know what happened here and I don't want this to happen again. I want these big companies to know they need to pay attention and to protect the public."

The final FAA report still hasn't been released to the public. The family of Peter Carter, who was the patient on board the helicopter when it was heading to Sioux Falls, has also settled out of court, but their terms are confidential. Gail Houcks four sons are also bringing a law suit against Omniflight, but according to their lawyers, has not been settled.

[B Sousa]

EMS people always try to do a great job in the worst circumstances at times when duty calls!

Seems the report was that the job was done and they were going home?? In which case it is a terrible waste and nothing to do with the above.
I cannot count the number of times I have landed in someones back yard or some unknown little inconvenient airport because of the weather in that part of the world. When all is said and done and looking at the one picture of this I have seen, I think Mother Nature was flexing Muscle and someone should have made a decision to wait things out. If that is true gethomeitis got another one.

Do you think this sort of thing should continue? Or atleast as IFR, twin engine and 2 pilot op's? Or just operate day VFR like the UK?

Here we go again.....More Engines and more Pilots are just more to kill. IFR in a Thunderstorm, No F'ing way.
Single Engine, single Pilot, Day or Night works, if folks just use common sense.
As has been said, "Its not nice to mess with Mother Nature"

[alouette]

If a VFR program is VFR then it is VFR, and if the the weather appears to be inclement then I would stay on the ground, and would not risk a thing at all cost.

How many more accidents in this EMS industry are needed before someone wakes up and initiates a change to the better?

[[email protected]]

Here we go again.....More Engines and more Pilots are just more to kill. IFR in a Thunderstorm, No F'ing way.
Single Engine, single Pilot, Day or Night works, if folks just use common sense

I think the point here is that if it was an IFR flight, the pilot would have almost certainly said 'no f'ing way' - no one would consider flying a helo into a TS - but because he was operating VFR he had to go underneath, into deteriorating conditions and hit the ground.

A second engine wouldn't have saved him but a second pilot might, so might an autopilot, NVG or anything to improve his SA at a time where the workload can go from manageable to overwhelming in seconds.

As SASless said, none of these guys set out to kill themselves, they just didn't know when to say NO and pushed on until it was too late to say it.

[bast0n]

Crab

You said

but because he was operating VFR he had to go underneath, into deteriorating conditions and hit the ground.

He did not HAVE to go underneath. I say, wearily, once again, that the key to survival in difficult conditions is to chicken out early and TO DO IT WHILST YOU STILL HAVE VISUAL REFERENCES TO LAND BY. This works in dark, fog, snow, dust, rain what have you. That is the beauty of helicopters - they do usually give you a chance of landing to avoid the worst outcome.

[[email protected]]

Baston you miss my point - I thoroughly agree that he should have chickened out early, hence my sentence about saying No too late - had it been a planned IFR flight then he wouldn't have got airborne in the first place but because it was a VFR flight his mindset was different, a more suck it and see if we can get through approach.

Now there is nothing wrong with VFR flight but, if you don't have an IFR option for whatever reason, you really should make the abort decision early when the weather is closing in.

[Sebastian-PGP]

Pretty low hour IFR student here, so my take is worth what you paid for it...but I seem to remember much discussion about pilot work load when we lost Trooper 2 last year, presumably because of inadvertent IFR from VFR flight. Between handling the crew, complicated airspace rules, the radio, navigation, and the aircraft itself, the pilots are very, very busy in EMS situations...and there was talk of adding a SIC to share the workload. I think the budgetary crisis in this godforsaken state nixed that, but just an uneducated honest question--isn't at least logically possible that pilot workload is a factor when it's critical, VFR conditions are deteriorating, and lives are at stake?

[SASless]

The Maryland State Police can find the 200 million dollars to buy AW-139's but will still fly them Single Pilot I bet.

As Sebastian correctly states (maybe new....but absolutely on the mark) the second Pilot would be a Godsend when it all goes egg shaped.

In reality, as Crab and others have already said....Prevention is the Cure!

Why is it pilots who cannot say "NO" to a flight...at some point wind up saying "OH! NO....NO....NO!" just before they smack Mother Earth at near warp speed!

[Sebastian-PGP]

I haven't even been following recently what's going on with MSP's new aircraft acquisition...given the drastic fiscal state of affairs here I wouldn't be surprised if SIC jobs and new aircraft alike are back burner'ed. I suspect Eurocopter did have a legit beef (there's nothing wrong with the airframes, more modern avionics packages and engine upgrades would have been a much cheaper and cost effective option in their view and it'd take someone more educated than me to make the case that they're wrong).

Funny the things this state (and probably most others) wastes money on before it'll spend money on somebody to help you watch the GPS and the altimeter. Not to say this would have prevented the SC incident, obviously we don't know--but it does seem at least somewhat rational to ask about...after all, commercial fixed wing flights have a Captain and a First Officer...why don't EMS flights? The flying EMS pilots are doing (off airport landings, VFR into unexpected IFR flights, tricky landings, etc) has to be more challenging and more dangerous.

[BV234driver]

The cost?

Again, in agreement with you SAS (and Seb, wise words)- operators will spend all kinds of money on the cost of the aircraft, but won't plug another dime into a guy in the other seat. (or NVGs as noted in other threads)

Evidently all that loss and payout is cheaper than a 60k or 70k expenditure for a guy in the other seat. 2.2M for the settlement previously (on OMNI's earlier incident), crewmember life insurance, cost of aircraft, etc. etc...

And as anyone in the field knows 2000 or 2500 hrs a safe pilot does not make. There's a better possibility for a safe, experienced pilot, but we've all seen plenty of guys at 2000+ that I wouldn't want to be in heavy situations with.