Helicopter down in Saba/St. Maarten, any more info?
 

Just found out about this:
St. Maarten-St. Martin - Helicopter crashes off Saba airstrip

Anyone have more info about this?

Just found out that two people died. The pilot, Mike Huttenlocker and one of the police inspectors.
The helicopter was an R-44 doing a medevac, but it was a private helicopter and NOT the police helicopter.

2 killed in helicopter crash off Caribbean island - International Herald Tribune

Churchill Marsdin presumed dead in helicopter crash attempting medical evacuation


Sad news all around

Medical Evacuation at night, over water in an R44! Is this normal around the Carribean?

Sad news but an error of judgement perhaps, One casualty becomes three!

Ringer

Night VFR is not permitted in the eastern caribbean including the all the French territories, British Overseas Dependant territories, and the OECS islands.
As for the police helicopters in Dutch St.Maarten I am not sure.

A non IFR certified private single piston engine helicopter flying at night over the sea doing medical evacuations operated by a private citizen?

Sounds like a touching humanitarian act and a total aeronautical irresponsability!! :=

I am flying night missions at night over the sea and we are using a state of the art multimillion helo with 2 trained IFR pilots and we still have serious respect at off-shore night operations.

I can only praise the pilot willingness to help others but such missions are for pros and using appropiate helicopters.

Does the local goverment there has no such Emergency program?
Why let a private citizen to carry such suicide mission?

Both rest in peace. :(

I flew the St. Maarten police helicopter for 2 years, and we were allowed to fly night VFR, indeed most of our flying was at night.
I can not count the times I had to say no to a night flight to different islands, and it was usually an "emergency" of some sort.

He definitely got in over his head, and as has been mentioned he only had a private license. The odd part here is that he flew for (and started, and was the ops manager of) leeward island helicopters.
Leeward Islands Helicopters St.Maarrten Helicopter Charters Helicopter Flights Helicopter Tours St.Maarten St.Martin Anguilla Saba St.Barth Statia

Reading their website it seems he intended to do 2 flights that night, one to bring over a patient, and the other to bring over the family. Choosing to fly a medevac for a heart attack victim is one thing, but to also fly his family on a second flight....

And the crash site, 12-14nm from Saba is the halfway point between the islands, so should be the darkest spot...Saba is not a big island, with very flew lights on the side facing St. Maarten.

Rest in peace Mike.

It can be very tempting. Perhaps it was a clear night, lots of stars. The moon would not rise until after midnight down there. Hey, it's just another night flight, right? We'll be able to see. Perhaps Mike hadn't done many long cross-countries over water, and underestimated the challenge. Even if everything had gone perfectly, he had his hands full.

For a while I flew a helicopter based on a small island off the coast of Honduras. We had no hospital, just a very basic clinic. One night six kids were involved in a deadly head-on boat collision (three died). Local authorities wanted me to fly two injured girls down to the mainland. It was "only" a 70-mile flight, and the night was clear. I said no. They pleaded. I said I was sorry. It wasn't even a hard decision. A tough decision, but not a hard one.

But this what helicopters do, right? Save lives? React in an emergency on a moment's notice? I can imagine the pressure Mike was under...wanting to help, optimistically thinking he could...

Maybe in an airplane...something with inherent stability, with a panel full of gyro gauges. Yeah, then...maybe.

But not in a helicopter.

Very sad.

R.I.P. Heros
 

As an American expat and retired CRM instructor now living on the tiny (5 sq mi) Caribbean island that Mike and the SXM police inspector were going to on a mercy flight to save one of our residents, please allow me to add, I hope, some perspective.

Folks, there is this big world outside the US that does the best it can. Mike and 'Paco' got a call that one of Saba's residents had suffered a heart attack that our local 12 bed hospital could not handle and were asked to medevac him to SXM. Here, you don't say no or this person will surely die. Forget IFR and all the luxeries we have in North America. They come or Ronnie Johnson dies, period.

Yes, it was a clear night with lots of stars and no 'weather' to speak of. They had made dozens of similar flight before this. Only God knows what happened. But Mike, a pilot with thousands of hours of fixed wing and heli flight time set out for our tiny island to save a life. He died while doing so.

Please, may he and his co-pilot rest in peace and prayers and good thoughts to their families and loved ones. In the mean time, my own heart and those of many here are broken.

WestIndian,

As a matter of interest, what was the outcome for the resident with the heart attack?

Mars

WestIndian.
I sincerely share your feelings about the crew and I understand the pressures they were exposed to.

What happened cannot be changed but if we do not critizice from the operational point of view such flights, they are bound to be repeaded.

I do not know the economic sittuation of your island and the medical facilities but once thing I am sure is that it should not be up to private citizens to overcome the local goverment lack of investment on a proper Emergency system.
If you do not have the same Emergency programs than in Norway you cannot expect to have the same service, that is HEMS medical evacuation by night.

This is the same like operating a guy with an axe because you do not have a surgery room avalaible. Sometimes you simply cannot do what your heart ask you to do.
Anyway I read something on the links above that disturbed me a bit.
I may understand the "emergency" sittuation but what was that about making a second flight to bring the family along?

Sounded to me that the idea of making such flight at night over the sea with the Robin was considered more a "normal operation" rather than the "extreme emergency" sittuation we are talking about.
You mention that such flight were a normal occurence and this is the wrong thing.
Another thing that puzzles me is the fact that such medical critical evacuations were routinely done in a R-44. How do you carry the patient there? seated?. Do they carry a doctor along?
It is sad some people had died to bring facts to the table. Such flights should NEVER be performed with such aircraft and operational conditions.

You do not need a multimillion brand new S-92 for this. Tell the local goverment to get a second hand A-109 earlier model IFR with autopilot to do such flight. You can find them on the market for a good price.

As I said I share with you my sincere condolences for the crew and my recognicement that they died while trying to help others.
Nothing more noble and gallant can be expected from a pilot.

However as professional pilot I feel compelled to speak up against this type of operations and its consolidation as a "normal practice".
Lets all helps this does not happen again and another Mike had to place his life on the line of duty just because the local goverments does not want to have a budget to have an appropiate MEDEVAC system and rely in some private citizen to do its job.

Mars,

Thank you for asking. Ronnie Johnson, when the helicopter didn't show, was taken across the island to our sole harbor and transported by boat to SXM, a two hour ride. Fortunately, he was then flown to Puerto Rico and I'm told he is in stable condition.

Furia, you ask some excellent questions and I appreciate them. I'll come back later and try to address them.

WestIndian

1000s of hours??
 

I spoke with Mike on numerous occasions when he started to set up Leeward Island Helicopters. I found him a very approachable and kind person, and he definitely had the best of intentions.
He gave me the same story about having 1000s of hours in both fixed wing and helicopters, and ATP in fixed wing. However looking at the FAA website, he is only listed as having a Helicopter PPL.

This indicates that all the flying he did for Leeward Island Helicopters was illegal.
And as Night VFR is illegal in the Caribbean, and him flying like this was a regular occurrence...why was he never stopped? Surely Juliana tower couldn't have been completely without knowledge?

It doesn't matter how nice of a guy he was, or how good his intentions were...or "the pressure he was under"...he did something illegal, made a poor judgment..and paid the ultimate price.
I flew the police helicopter out of St. Maarten for over 2 years, also a 44, and I know the pressure he was under. I was asked plenty of times to do night over water flights. Numerous medevacs with the "we have to go...he/she is going to die" clause attached. Also asked to go search for a man that fell off a boat. As hard as those decisions were, I said no. And I am sure that 1000s of other pilots make those same decisions every day.

As for the critically ill patient. After the helicopter didn't show up, he was put on a boat to St. Maarten. On arrival there he was flown by a different helicopter to Puerto Rico for treatment. That in itself raises some questions.

Thanks West Indian - I'm Saban living in the US and appreciate your comments. This is truly a shocking situation and my condolences go out to both families.
I worry all the time about the 'what ifs' with my family on Saba, and 'what if' my Dad or Mom had an emergency in the middle of the night. The last time someone in my family had an emergency, they were 'fortunate' that it a) happened during the operating hours of the airport and b) the wx was well enough for the plane to land, and transport them to SXM.
When my family have been referring to 'the helicopter' I was envisioning one similar to that which had been operating in the 90s (which I also believe went on to crash in the French West Indies), but it was a much larger heli (i.e. patient could remain on stretcher). Now I'm doubly concerned and just wonder if the best thing is to just go by boat (wx permitting) if heaven forbid anything were to happen.
As for setting up better emergency planning... I won't begin to comment on the state of government, but clearly something is warranted, and anything would be an improvement on the current situation. Since the Antilles are undergoing constitutional change for Saba, Statia, & Bonaire to have closer ties to the Netherlands, I think this will help upgrade the standards of health care, among other things, and hopefully one of those additions is a safer mode of transport to the other islands for medical care.
I don't think that the average Saba or St Maartenner realized that the R-44 was not a heli for night operations... and furthermore that it may have flying illegally in certain situations. I have to wonder where the regulatory agency (CAA) was and why nothing was done if it was indeed an illegal operation, since I believe it was operating for quite some time?
I have another question - since the operator was an American, and I think the aircraft was as well, does the NTSB get involved?

I guess that explains the license issue... not the night flying though.

Phil77,

I don't think that statement resolves the licence issue at all, looks like a piece out of some newspaper.

And westindian says if mike doesn't go then the patient dies, yet mike is dead and therefore a "good guy", and the patient lives happily ever after, how does that work???

Quite a bit of mismanagement by all involved:(

islandgirl, according to reports the aircraft was a local registration not american. That means the pilot would have to have a local licence to fly it

Licensing...
 

I have a Netherlands Antilles Commercial Helicopter license (number 54 if I remember correctly) and they are only issued as a validation of your foreign license. To my knowledge there is no program in place to issue non-validation NA helicopter licenses at all.

I suspect that the license mentioned is the commercial license to operate a helicopter company in St. Maarten...which according to his own company's website "they were wrapping up" when this happened. So under what license did he fly the previous 3 years then?

Also, according to this website AIR ST. MAARTEN - Leeward Islands Helicopters
he had "recently celebrated the signing of the last pertinent document allowing his company, Leeward Islands Helicopters, to execute helicopter tours from his helipad located at Port de Plaisance and from the cruise terminal in Philipsburg."
again, something he has been doing for the last three years (starting with an N-reg machine), with the possible exception of the cruise terminal.

From reading the st. maarten island times online I got the impression that he had just returned from St. Kitts and was at the airport when he got the call to go to Saba...so did he return from St. Kitts at night then?

Is there no control at Juliana anymore? Should be interesting to read the report on this one.

My sincere condolences to the family and friends of the two missing occupants of the missing aircraft.

But some things need to be said about the operations of this accident helicopter that have occurred in the past.

When the helicopter was N registered it had been operating from St.Kitts. The operations were terminated by the OECS aviation authorities when it was shown that the pilot only held a PPL and not a commercial license. As well, some legitimate operators in the region were upset at some of the operations that had occurred in St.Kitts and surrounding islands, some of which were not in compliance with local regulations. Night VFR operations was just one of the examples.

It is sad that continuing these same type of operations in another jurisdiction possibly led to the occurrance of this accident.

How was this allowed to happen? Right now one can only speculate.

As the investigation into this accident was beginning, there was an arrest of a government official in St.Maarten concerning forgery of "Documents and Licenses". Could these two events be connected?

Other questions can be asked. Why was the police helicopter not utilised for this mercy flight? Why was this helicopter allowed to operate with no pop-out floats over water? And we know it was regularly operated over water by the story on the website describing a tour flight which descended to 300 feet over the water. Highly unlikely that a safe auto-rotative landing could be accomplished in the event of an engine failure.

Hopefully there will not be a knee-jerk reaction from the authorities(aviation or others), due to this accident, that affects the operations of future legally compliant helicopter operators in the Netherland Antilles.

deeper:
I think you're right, on a second look the "commercial license" does seem to apply to the company, not necessary the pilot.

Important questions
 

Furia and All,

These are important questions and they deserve answers. As the guy who wrote most of the CRM and some of the safety standards for CAMTS, I had no idea aviation standards are so lax here. But living here now and interacting with our own island government, I'm not at all surprised. To say that most things here in the West Indies are unregulated is an eye-rolling understatement. Yet to be honest, when it doesn't involve safety and health, it's actually pretty refreshing.

Yes, there are Emergency plans when it comes to hurricanes, because after 400 years of hurricanes, governments here have HAD to produce them, and the hurricane emergency plan on my island, although relatively new, is excellent. But I'm not optimistic -although I will personally pursue it with our island governor and island secretary this week- that anyone in either the SXM or SAB governments will sense any urgency to address airevac safety issues even after this tragedy. As a point of reference, on Saba we still burn all refuse in the dump (garbage, plastic bottles, old washing machines, abandoned automobiles, etc) into the open air while the island elementary and high schools are downwind less than a quarter mile away! Lots of talk about correcting this shameful health issue - little if any action. So this is what we are dealing with.

:ugh:

-

West Indian - (and others who are interested and wondering why Saba isn't equipped w/ proper medivac helicopter etc): The latest and greatest idea (prior to accident) is a proposal, from the Dutch government in an effort to manage costs when the the Neth Antilles is dissolved, is that ALL patients will be transported to SXM by boat, i.e. no hospital beds on SAB anymore. I hope that the elected officials will politely suggest that that is not the best idea, since just like with air transport, sea transport isn't always possible. So rather than the situation getting better, it may actually get worse (unless people start demanding otherwise).
Someone also asked why the police helicopter didn't perform this mission - honestly I'm not sure, but it had the same risks: it's also an R-44.

When I flew the police R44 in SXM (a few years ago, before TIMTS' time) I noticed an inclination to believe that "the helicopter would always be there". As unsuitable for medevac as the R44 is I tried to educate whomever I came in contact with about its shortfalls in this respect. One day while talking with one of the Saba officials I was told this was understood and that they had an arrangement in place with Island Helicopters in Tortola BVI to use their B222 in EMS fit if required. This seemed eminently sensible to me, using a SPIFR twin with room and staff for proper in-flight patient care. I wonder what happened to this arrangement? I heard on the grapevine that Island had some trouble with the FAA wrt. their 135 certificate but their website is updated as of this year so I assume that was sorted out.

I can think of at least two reasons why the police R44 wasn’t used. First, as TIMTS has also said, there is the “little boy who cried wolf” factor. You can be told only so many times “XYZ is going to die if you don’t…” only to find out it was something minor before you automatically raise the BS flag on that statement and your standard response becomes “OK, we’ll get him at first light”. Your colleagues going through the same experience and warning you about it just speeds up this change of attitude.

Secondly, the police version of the R44 as I flew it is even less suitable for patient transport than the standard version: there is no right rear seat, this space is taken up by electronics, so nobody can sit with the patient to administer even the absolute minimum of care (e.g. preventing the patient from inadvertently opening the door, talking with the patient to keep him conscious, etc.).

In any case, with the only blind flying instrumentation being a single artificial horizon (that doesn’t take well to either the constant vibration in a light helicopter or the salt-laden air in the islands) the only way I would have contemplated a night flight to Saba even in the direst of emergencies would have been with completely clear skies and a scorcher of a moon – and that was when I was young and stupid.

WestIndian I wish you luck. Goverment officials should understand that nothing is more important than the healt and safety of their people.

It puzzles me to think they believe a Police helicopter program is more needed than having some kind of hospital or MEDEVAC procedures.

I have flown such kind of inter islands medevac flights and I realized that the politicians get really sensible about it when it is the time you have to fly his daughter or wife or mother. Then they surely do not want to hear about dangerous situations then. And be sure one day or another it will come the time one of then or their relatives would need such services.

The absolute minimum thing you need there is a fully certified autopilot single pilot IFR helicopter and of course twin engine. And of course a pilot with enough experience as single pilot IFR on such type.
Less than that should not even be attempted.
Sell that Police 44 and get a more capable but a "general purpose" helicopter with multiple configuration cabin that can do both jobs.

We are on the 21st Century and if your island is living off tourism as does mine, you do not want tourist to think that if anything happens to them while there in hollydays, they would be sent on a "extreme high risk" mission or simply left at the hotel with an aspirin.
Usually the medical insurances cover part of the cost of such programs.

If you have an airport another solution is using a fix wing aircraft. A king Air or something alike, wake up the airport personel for such sittuations, get some of them reachable by night if such need arises so they can light up the runway and provide meteo info.
There are plenty of solutions, some of them would require more investment than others but all must be safe, legal and should be aimed to saving lives, not loosing them.
I have been working on an HEMS night inter-island helicopter program for some years so if you need some imput about this just PM me and I would be happy to provide you more data.

I worked down on the islands as well flying the police helicopter and I don’t think you realize how small and difficult the airport of Saba is to land at with a fixed wing. Even during the day under good conditions it is not a routine job. There is a reason the DCA.NA (Directorate of Civil Aviation Netherlands Antilles) require fixed wing pilots to have 1500 hrs STOL time before they are allowed to land there and there are no night flights to the airport.

A couple of years ago +-6 or 7 there was a deal with the B222 from Tortolla and the Saban government and the DCA.NA to provide medical emergency evacuations. But it seems to have been dissolved or the cost were too high.

As for the police helicopter: the Netherlands Antilles government in Curacao tried going for a bigger multi-mission helicopter but the operating cost were so high that that they cancelled the whole police helicopter project for Curacao.

I agree with everything TIMTS and buitenzorg have posted. I have had lady luck on my side on a couple of nights down there but I feel my instrument training/ rating has helped change the balance for the better. Flying over water at night is dangerous and should never be taken lightly.

From bramv22

Not only is night VFR dangerous, but flying into reduced visibility during daylight hours over open water (for example heavy rain) is also very dangerous. If I can't see through it, I don't fly into it.

The beacon on top of the tower at Mt Scenery (2,882 ft) isn't working (something happened to power lines leading to top of mountain). And that's been like that a while and wasn't fixed when I was there in Aug. That is probably not the highest dollar (guilder) item in the budget and it's being neglected. There are new officials in government than 6-7 years ago, so not sure what happened to the arrangement w/ the BVI medivac operation.
Everyone on Saba knows each other on a first name basis - so whenever anyone gets sick, you know that patient and their family. The call for airlift is usually made by the attending physician, who is not a local and can provide some sort of objectivity to the situation. Maybe I'm biased because I am from Saba, but I'm trying to think of a 'boy who cried wolf' situation, and burst appendix, cardiac arrest, and emergency C-sections don't seem to factor in to fit into that category. Things happen and the infrastructure needs to be there for when it does. Obviously that does not mean an R-44 operated by a private citizen.

Islandgirl,

For an example of a "boy who cried wolf" situation just look at the situation on the night of the accident. After the crash a boat was called which transported the patient and he survived. That boat could have been called in the first place and two deaths avoided. The helicopter was not required to save a life, but that was how it was almost always presented to me while I was flying there.

Anyway, there has only been a helicopter based at SXM since 2001. What was being done in case of medical emergencies before that time?

To Islandgirl (and others who ask the same question): ...And where does the money come from? If a government doesn't even have enough money to fix a navigation beacon, how on earth would they be able to afford a "medevac capable" helicopter? Answer: They can't.

In Honduras, my boss provided our private helicopter as free emergency medical transport to the residents of our small island (Guanaja). The necessity of the transport was determined by the local doctor; I was not involved in the go/no-go decision (only the fly/no-fly one). It was supposed to be "life or death" and generally it was the case that the people I flew probably would have died otherwise...maybe.

Fortunately, the FH1100 converted easily and cleverly from passenger to stretcher configuration. Although it could accommodate a basic rectangular "backboard" type of stretcher, we fabricated a smaller one that was easier to use.

And no, neither the local government of Guanaja nor the federal government of Honduras had the money to provide such airborne service on their own.

In fact, one of the very sad ironies was that when I'd land in the nearest big city on the mainland (La Ceiba) we'd often find that there was no ground ambulance available either. See, there is no money to fund public EMS, so that service simply does not exist. In Honduras (and probably many small countries as well), if you're going to the public hospital, you have to get yourself there no matter how badly you're injured. (BTW I was prohibited from landing directly at the private hospital, and the public hospital does not have a heliport.) My passengers often finished their journey in taxicabs or the bed of a pickup truck. Many times it was heartbreaking (especially if you're familiar with the roads in poor Central American countries).

http://bp2.blogger.com/_s8Qzr1EyjkA/...s+Pics+024.jpg

And in case that picture didn't post, try this:
http://bp2.blogger.com/_s8Qzr1EyjkA/...s+Pics+024.jpg

Maybe we've come to a point where people assume a certain standard level of care - that air and ground ambulances are always available everywhere. They are not. As an tourist, you have to realize that if you're seriously injured outside of your home country, you may very well die and oh well, tough luck.

And if someone lives on an island like Saba, they must do so with the sober understanding that certain sophisticated medical help may be unavailable. Just because there is a "sightseeing helicopter" nearby guarantees nothing...heck, doesn't even imply anything in the way of medical transport.

Municipal helicopters are great tools, but they are very, very expensive, especially as infrequently as they are needed and used in an EMS role. Assuming that every government can afford a helicopter big enough to function as an occasional 24/7 all-weather air ambulance is rather naive.

No my friend, the naive thing is believing they can`t.

While of course would be specific cases and most of them are on the very undeveloped countries I do not think neither Saba or Honduras fit into that.

The problem is that Goverments have other priorities others than the people's health.

Fors instance you mentioned Honduras.

ok lets see.
Honduras Airforce Order of Battle.
And I am not mentioning the 7 helicopters that the police uses.

So lets see. we have Fighters, Hercules Transports and multiple helicopter types including Uh1 and B412 but of course they cannot afford to have a medical evacuation system.

So we have that you with a single engine piston helicopter build in the 70's and privately owned is the only thing that mean dead or life for the poor people that may need urgent medical transportation.

I do not pretend to change the world here on this post, we all aware of the injustices of it, however while some countries surely cannot afford to buy a helicopter (the list of thos countries is really small) the truth is that in some others, medical care and people's health is simply not on top of the list of the goverment.
I am sure the rich people or politicians on those countries do not suffer such troubles, either they fly on their private helicopter or the are kindly transported by the airforce nicelly called by an influent friend.

On this page for less than 1 million euros you can buy a twin engine fully IFR certified helicopter.
http://www.avbuyer.com/aircraftsales...aftResults.asp

I do not know the Saba economical situation buy just imagine inside the helicopter would have been a famous rich american or european tourist.
Then I am sure the post accident economical situation would be far worse due the lack of tourism.

Furia, just one small correction: The FH1100 is a turbine-powered ship. Yes, we wished the government had provided such service but we knew they could not.

Guanaja has about 10,000 people, none of whom pay any income or property tax. But never mind tiny Guanaja. With no heavy industry, no tourism industry at all, and most of their citizens in poverty, Honduras as a nation will never have enough revenue for even the most basic civil or social services. If they won't even fund municipal EMS ground services in their cities, how could anyone even dream of something as "frivolous" as an air ambulance?

During my time in Honduras, I only ever saw the F-5's, that Israeli Industries Arava (or whatever it's called) and the 412 fly. And those aircraft only flew rarely, in conjunction with specific U.S. anti-drug operations, for which they were probably partially reimbursed. The Honduran government, existing for centuries on handouts from other governments (like the U.S.) devotes precious little of those monies to their air force. The local joke was that the drug dealers supplied the fuel to the air force so the pilots could maintain currency - with the proviso that the airplanes *not* be used in routine drug interdiction (which they were not). The only military aircraft I ever regularly saw in Honduras were from the U.S. (The others on your list are surely those that have been impounded or confiscated. I doubt very much if even a tiny percentage of them are airworthy.)

But you're correct in that even countries that can afford municipal EMS helicopters choose to not. Even if St. Maarten could afford to purchase a...oh...S-76, say, look at the cost of operating it. When you factor in all of the costs of a 24/7/365 aviation department, the numbers get so big that the government figures that money can be "better" spent on other things. And until we perfect a "Star Trek"-like transporter device, some people are going to die because they cannot get to a hospital fast enough.

The CIA website (www.cia.gov) reports that the Netherlands Antilles are home to about 225,000 people. In 2004 the government there had expenditures of $950 million versus revenues of $758 million. (This includes $21 million in foreign aid.) Whoops! Small imbalance there. The Netherlands Antilles also had in 2004 a staggering $2.68 billion in foreign debt.

Do you see money for a public EMS helicopter there? No chance.

Hey, life is risky. Sometimes it's riskier in some places than others. The single-pilot, VFR-only R-44 simply should not have been tasked to do night "medevacs," period, end of story. Had it been a rich and famous American or European tourist onboard at the time of this accident, he'd probably be thinking right now, "Gee, I wish I hadn't decided to vacation in Saba. Not my wisest decision in retrospect." But that doesn't mean St. Maarten should immediately install an IFR EMS helicopter with a budget of three or four or five million dollars per year.

I mean, it's nice to dream, but it isn't going to happen.

Buitenzorg et al: Before 2001 (and now) you have a 50% chance (roughly) of an emergency happening during the day - during which time you would be transported to SXM on a regularly scheduled Winair flight or Winair charter, if a plane was available. I know in the 90s my aunt had acute appendicitis. I believe at the time the helicopter that came was stationed on the French side. I honestly don't know what kind it was (I was a teenager). Other than that I suppose you calculate which is the shorter time table - boat to SXM during the night (dangerous as well) or daybreak for a Winair flight. And obviously if the possibility exists for emergencies, patients are sent to SXM in advance, i.e. if it is thought a woman may have a difficult labour, they are sent to SXM a month before due date.
So yes, there are inherent risks to living on Saba and most people their recognize that. I live in a major US city where the average ER wait time is 8 hours due to doctor shortage... I had a major emergency and waited 4 hours. That's the risk we take in living here.

On another note, it's a lucky that the patient was able to be transported by boat. The captains's mother-in-law was in hospital and passed away in the midst of all these goings-on.

The people who are interested - the concerned citizens, elected officials, the doctors and health officials etc - will continue trying to find a solution for emergency situation on Saba that minimizes the risk of those trying to help the patient. No one on Saba or anywhere wants to see a situation like this ever again.

To try and enlighten people on the cost of operating ANY helicopter for EMS(or police), all one has to do is to look to many jurisdictions in North America. Being from Canada I will use that as an example.

In Alberta, where I was before coming here to Antigua, STARS has been the main EMS provider. It is a non-profit organisation that uses charitable donations and fundraisers for its operating revenue. When I left ten years ago they had 3 helicopters in 2 cities. These cities combined (and the surrounding communities) comprise nearly 2 million people. The provincial and munincipal governments could not justify the need with the cost. The police in Calgary have a helicopter, it was also paid for by charitable donations and fundraisers, for the same reasons. And Alberta is one of the wealthiest provinces in Canada as well.

In Toronto, the munincipal authorities still cannot justify spending the money on a police helicopter in an area that is roughly 6 million people.

So now put that into perspective with our small island populations and it can be deduced that the revenue needed to run a helicopter (police or EMS) is just not there with such a small population base.

Helicopters are very expensive toys, that's why we don't see many (in relation to airplanes)parked at airports around the world. With a 4 to 6 passenger helicopter, you can triple or quadruple the operating costs of a similar sized airplane. That doesn't include the purchase price.

FYI

Saba has a land area of 13 km² (5 sq. miles). At the 2001 Netherlands Antilles census, the population was 1,349 inhabitants, which means a population density of 104 inhabitants per km². In 2004 the population was estimated at 1,424 inhabitants.

St. Maarten is approx. 87 km². The official population on the Dutch side is 50,000

Sint Eustatius has a land area of 21 km² (8.1 sq. miles). At the 2001 Netherlands Antilles census, the population was 2,292 inhabitants, which means a population density of 109 inh. per km². In 2004, the population was estimated at 2,498 inhabitants.

With these population numbers it seems almost impossible to support a dedicated Air Ambulance service.

Sandyhelmet

The Montserrat situation does not apply as that was a volcano "crisis" situation and both the 365 and the ferry were dumped when the new airport opened.

This 'inability to fund' police and EMS aircraft still affects the 'rich' Western World despite the availability of significant government funding.

That earlier listing of the largely grounded Honduran air fleet by Furia raises the similar inabilities of most nations to fly what they have. You only need to peep inside the hangars of even the average Western air force to realise that even they run a significant 'Christmas Tree' fleet so what chance does a tiny island nation stand?

More on subject we are used to the large fleets of the police fire and ambulance in the major US Cities but just what is their actual level of readiness across the well funded fleet?

Contrast that with smaller forces in the supposed rich heartland of the US and you will run into a dozen mixed type aircraft fleet largely grounded long term by a lack of engineering expertise, finance and pilots. Dozens of US Cities are flying barely 50 hours a year on their 'free' DoD surplus OH58s, or making do with a borrowed Cessna flown by a handy Deputy with a PPL for just the same reasons as those in St Maarten. Dare I say that some break as many rules of the air as appears to be the case with the St Maarten R44 operation.

Island heli's...
 

Sorry to interrupt the thread.... Does anyone know whether Brad Hangar and Island heli's are still operating in BVI??? :ok:

Island Girl wrote:

I asked the Island Health Care person today about this and she said she's not heard that, even on 'the road'. She's heard they intend to expand the current 12 bed hospital considerably.

The Dutch are here in force and certainly making their presence known, but hopefully not closing the hospital. Republic of Saba - has a nice ring to it....

Saba landing
 

bramv22 wrote:

And not just any STOL, Twin Otters only. No night flights and Islandgirl, you'll get this (and someone said it before): this side of Saba (Zions Hill) isn't known for having their lights on late.

For perspective, see here. For the not feint of heart, youtube 'Saba Landing' for several real and FX landings. I know, I know, LUA in Nepal, even SBH and many others. I ain't saying it's the hairiest fixed wing, I'm just saying there's some adrenaline involved in the last 1300 ft. And I speak solely as a passenger.

The heliport as you would guess is near the terminal building. Usually no skirt lights even, as the place closes tight at sundown.

Buitenzord wrote:

Don't know you brother but I got to take issue with this. No insight like hindsight, as they say. In retrospect, Ronnie had not had an MI after all but only a lethal case of tachycardia. It couldn't be resolved on Saba so at least one fully licensed and qualified physician called for a medevac. And it wasn't resolved at the hospital on St Maarten either. It took paddles in San Juan to bring him out of danger and into stable condition. I'm told he probably has permanent kidney damage.

When I code, gentlemen, just take me to a better hospital quick. You can debate it online afterward.

sandyhelmet wrote:

While T&T has 'just' 1.3 million people, my 5 sq mi island of Saba has 1.3 THOUSAND. And yet we have heart attacks, too. We have an island council that appropriates limited funds to needed services. Wanna wager where a barely sufficient but very costly 'appropriate' medevac heli ranks?