Go figure! When one of the EMS vendors tallying the highest numbers of accidents is part of the EMS Safety Committee, when that vendor is the one with the highest number of single engine unstabilized VFR only helicopter in EMS operations.
When safety recommendations are made and received that only extent to cost considerations instead of actual equipment need, when the NTSB and FAA know that but yet do not impose the measures that ought to be implemented...

Who is owned by whom?

I once saw an FAA Inspector get promoted and sent up to FAA HQ to participate in the oversight and reforming of the Helicopter EMS industry.

That reminded me of the Peter Principle...Government Bureaucracy....and Sod's Law coming together in a Perfect Storm.

When I commented about all this to a former frequent poster here during an FAA Safety Conference where this Nimrod was to be the guest speaker....I was told how unkind I was being and surely I was making it all up.

Part way through the presentation....I got a "Knowing" look from my accuser who apologized to me for his remarks which he admitted floundered upon the Reef of Reality.

The FAA system is cumbersome....the bureaucracy stifles good people and good thought...the Rule Making Procedure would make Will Rogers think bad things about whoever formulated that process....and then we have the Helicopter Industry itself.....and that would make a Saint cuss.

One of these days....I would like to see a proper accounting of all the People that have been killed, maimed, and injured flying EMS Helicopters....and then determine the Financial Cost of that loss of lives, limbs, and aircraft.

No wonder Air Ambulance Charges are so damned expensive!

In America, a free market, capitalistic society, most folks spurn government involvement and regulation. Once the Feds are involved it is usually bureaucracy at it's worst and since the US Constitution clearly spells out states rights in it's 10th amendment, it's not as easy as 1, 2, 3 to get stuff changed on the Federal level and then enforced on a nationwide basis.
EMS in the U.S. is highly fragmented, with private operations at times competing with state-funded ops for patients. In Virginia, for example, there are many municipalities that have State Police operations AND private ops literally flying to the same accident scene, with the accident victims riding for almost free if they're loaded in a State helicopter but the victims loaded onto the private helicopters getting hit with a bill of $30,000 or more!
You want to see more government regulation? Stop talking about pilots getting together and complaining because that won't get much sympathy, since professional EMS piloting is by its very nature considered dangerous. Instead, get PATIENTS to complain, since THEY are the ones paying the bill. Unfortunately, I've never heard of a critically ill person electing to ride by ground ambulance for two hours instead of taking a 40 minute helicopter flight because of the accidents that occur in EMS flying. No, that badly injured man or woman will do almost anything to get to an ER quickly, thus they aren't gonna sit up in their stretcher and complain that flying in an EMS helicopter is too dangerous.
Get regular citizens, eg paying customers to complain...loudly. Until then, it will more talking and very little if no action. Remember, the USA has 300 MILLION plus citizens spread over fifty states and the D.C.

That is not the issue, actually there are far more patient fatalities in ground ambulances than in HEMS (if only for the sheer number difference).

The issue is that HEMS is by its nature a much higher exposure activity than say flying offshore or flying tourists in the Grand Canyon, yet it is regulated by the same set of rules and same basic weather restrictions.
In itself flying HEMS it's not (should not be) any different that those two previous activities, there are however human factors to be considered that contribute to make it what it is.

Day/night flying. Night inadvertent IMC (made even more insidious by the use of NVGs) in a VFR only helicopter. Attachment to the job and the (perceived) publicity that it may provide ("heroe" in the small village). The position of the (mostly) single pilot with two passengers who have been given a "crew" title and can hence influence the pilot decisions (if if were only to say no, it would just make things actually easier. And the list goes on and on.

I agree, there is no cure for stupid but there are ways to minimize the stupid moment. This horse has been beaten into a pulp ever since there has been a helicopter flying HEMS in the USA, the solution has not changed, nor has the refusal of the industry to fully implement those fixes, simply because of cost.

You reap what you sow.....therefore.

Sadly another one today
 

EMS crash Latimer County
 

EagleMed helicopter crashed at Choctaw Nation Hospital near Talihina just after 7 p.m. Tuesday.
No word yet on the fate of the crew.
One dead three injured.

Injuries Reported In Oklahoma Medical Helicopter Crash - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |
http://www.fox23.com/media/lib/13/3/...9/Original.jpg

Mickjoebill

EC 130 EMS crash Jan 2013 Nurse talks of his recovery
 

An injured nurse talks of his recovery.

Sad to see that the seats did not eliminate a spinal injury.
Front seat appears to have done its job of sliding down the rail.
But rear seat appears to be in normal position?

News9.com Videos - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |
(Video is at bottom of page)

Mickjoebill

Yesterday's from Oklahoma, clearer pic

http://www.4029tv.com/image/view/-/2...rash-Scene.jpg

everyone has bad time
 

rarely seen proper reply

And the "statistics" continue... :sad:

Kentucky June 6 NTSB Preliminary Report
 

NTSB Identification: ERA13FA273
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Thursday, June 06, 2013 in Manchester, KY
Aircraft: BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON 206L-1, registration: N114AE
Injuries: 3 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On June 6, 2013, about 2315 eastern daylight time, a Bell 206 L-1, N114AE, was destroyed when it impacted an elementary school parking lot while on approach for landing near Manchester, Kentucky. The airline transport pilot and two medical personnel were fatally injured. The helicopter was registered to and operated by Air-Evac EMS, Inc., as Evac 109, and operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a repositioning flight. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a company visual flight rules flight plan was filed. The flight originated from the St. Joseph-London Heliport (5KY9), London, Kentucky about 2259.

The helicopter was on approach to the operator’s private helipad when the accident occurred. According to flight tracking software provided by the operator, the helicopter approached the base from the west, turned southeast, flew overhead the intended landing site about 1 mile, turned north, then west, then back southeast prior to the end of the recorded data. Recordings provided by the operator's Operational Control Center (OCC), located in O'Fallon, Missouri, revealed that the pilot reported arriving at the base at 2312:24. That transmission was acknowledged by the OCC at 2312:30. At 2315:02, an unidentified male voice was recorded. No other transmissions from the accident flight were captured.

Several eyewitnesses reported that the weather was clear, and stated that the helicopter was "spinning" prior to impact. One of those witnesses reported seeing the helicopter in an approximate 40-degree nose-up attitude, and shortly after no engine sound was heard. Other witnesses, who reported "dense fog" in the area at the time of the accident, stated that they only saw the helicopter just before the impact and subsequent explosion.

The helicopter came to rest inverted on a 268 degree heading, about 750 feet from the intended landing area. According to security camera recordings the helicopter erupted into a fireball immediately on impact.

The helicopter and engine were retained for further examination.

Helipad was blocked, T/O from adjacend road:

NTSB: Medical Helicopter Hit Light Pole Before Deadly Talihina C - NewsOn6.com - Tulsa, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports - KOTV.com |

skadi