US HEMS Accident
 

First photo from OSP
 

:sad: condolences to family and friends...

Looks like another night CFIT... :sad: RIP

skadi

Still getting killed in the same sad useless way.
Shame on the industry, but mostly the blame is firmly on the FAA that is refusing to regulate HEMS.
God bless their young souls.

Extreme cold, snow showers, remote area.....video of the scene shows the aircraft utterly destroyed....just bits and pieces with debris scattered all through the forest.

Such a tragedy.....again.

Was there an auto pilot fitted?

So it could have been still dark at the time of the accident....

skadi

So very true. A quote from the Duke of Wellington comes to mind. RIP :(

"They came on in the same old way and we defeated them in the same old way."

Survivors ought to sue the FAA.

The Pilot was working three jobs....make you question what his sleep deficit was at the time of the crash.

What on earth are the pay rates if you feel the need to work three jobs?!?!

Her..
Bit old school assuming all pilots are a he.
Millennials would have you flogged, if they approved of fatal beatings. :E

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/9...rosa-woman-was

The initial media report I read got it wrong.....it was the male Flight Nurse that was working three jobs....not the Lady Pilot.

That is what I get assuming the media had their stuff in one sack for a change.



Instrument Proficiency (not just legal currency) will be an issue in this tragedy.






Of course not...why would one want tracking of a EMS Helicopter....that would cost money.

Just like why would you follow a roadway if it takes and extra minute on a night flight when you can fly over dark unlit terrain in snow showers?

Besides....before long folks will want twins and autopilots and effective Instrument Flying Training.

When would it end....this wanting more Gucci kit and training?

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....6f9257ae7e.jpg
is this a real flyer?
If so someone should go to jail.

"If no-one else will take the risks, call us, we will"

.
Medflight statment :

"As it relates to MedFlight, we received a request to transport a patient from the Holzer-Meigs Emergency Room in Pomeroy at 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 29. The assigned team’s pilot, working with the Operational Control Center at Metro Aviation, Inc., our aviation operator, determined that weather conditions at the time of request were below our program’s weather minimums. Each helicopter ambulance service has their own protocols for making decisions about whether it is appropriate to fly under given conditions."

http://www.verticalmag.com/press-rel...-flight-crash/
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Why sue??? They didn't make the call to go

There needs to be serious education among the medical community on what it means when a provider turns a flight down due to WX. Sadly, the strive for the all mighty $$$$$ plays a huge factor into these decisions the crews make. based on the age of the pilot she wasn't in the industry several years ago 2004- 2008/09 when everyone was working to stop this type of behavior/risk taking.. Sad so Sad Please let us all do a better job of mentoring young pilots. we are NOT inventing new accidents.. just repeating....and repeating...

can i get an Amen!! sorry preachy I know

It was being tracked, when the track stopped they notified the local SAR. The tracking is similar to AFF that USFS uses, you get the last location return, but just like the last radar track, it may not get you close enough to the wreckage in wooded or rugged terrain. BTDT.

No matter what ends up being the actual cause of the accident, the very legitimate question will have to be asked: Why did she accept that flight when *two* other agencies turned it down? Being that close to sunrise, did she optimistically believe that things would get better as it got lighter out? Of course we have no way of knowing what she was thinking. But let us admit that launching at that time was ill-advised. Upon hearing that two other operators had already turned the flight down, most of us old-timers would've said, "Good enough for me!" and then taken off our white knight armor and gone back to sleep.

But we have to understand that women pilots are subject to some amount of increased pressure than their male counterparts. Aviation is a man-dominated industry to be sure and so some women are just going to feel - rightly or wrongly - as though they're infringing in our territory. Could this lead to a bit of, "I'll show 'em! I'll show 'em that I'm just as good as they are." Who knows. But I wouldn't be surprised if she felt some self-imposed pressure to launch, perhaps ignoring that tiny voice in her head saying not to.

We can dissect accidents six ways from Sunday. We can figure out all of the forensic details...the how and the when. But we can never know a pilot's thought process. When I think about some of the really close-calls I've had in my career, if any one of them had turned into a fatal, the investigators would've been scratching their heads wondering what the hell I was thinking and why I put myself,my passengers and the ship in that position? It is only through God's good fortune that they never had to ask.

We wouldn't be worth a crap as pilots if we didn't think that we could safely complete each flight, right? But how we convince ourselves of that is often complicated and murky and not easily understood.

If I ever learned of a "Turn Down" by another Operator I almost invariably said "No!".

I preferred to start from the default position of "No" then let the weather, etc.....argue me into saying "Yes".

The decision is easy when it is clear cut....good weather or bad weather....it is the in-between stuff that will kill you.

I will bet there were significant presence of snow showers in the area with some reporting sites showing marginal weather.

Ha! We had several episodes of bad weather at destination and OUR OWN dispatcher was toning every helicopter in the operation to get a GO response.

She may not have known anyone turned the flight down. The requester is supposed to inform them if they've been turned down, many times when they are shopping they leave that bit out.

Why couln't she check the WX herself?

LPR, do you know the tracking interval?

I do not. But from watching it, the little acft symbol is very "jumpy". If I had to guess I would say around a minute.

So are the dispatch calls recorded? Notwithstanding the fact she should have checked and made a weather decision. Snow showers around also, flight in falling snow anyone?

If the flight was turned down by MedFlight, why their dispatch try to get somebody else on the same flight???
This attitude is totally wrong but typical from the US system.
Snow showers at night with a Bell 407 is not a good idea, if MedFlight had those information's, she also had it, why go in this case??
To prove what??
Again and again, same situation, same conditions, same result......

Could the reason she accepted the flight was because of her lack of experience? I am not talking about her flying hours or instructional....but many guys and girls think that flying a helicopter around the sunny grand canyon, or sight seeing trips in Florida is the same as a job at night up north in foul weather conditions? (or even in the day for that matter)?
Lots of pilots are of the assumption that just because they have their licence and lots of hours they can fly anywhere and do anything? Maybe management should ask the questions in an interview to find out what "real" experience they have ,or think twice when reading one's Resume' before hiring?
B

As the situation stands currently....the Pilot accepted the flight and the aircraft crashed....killing all who were aboard.

It was dark, sparsely populated wooded terrain the aircraft was flying over.

The weather conditions appear to be an issue.

The Investigation will work to determine the most probable cause....be it mechanical or other.

One thing is for sure.....Management will not be held accountable by the FAA or NTSB.

It might very well be taken to task in some civil action....but so will the Pilot.

This as every such tragedy should result in "Lessons Learned" and probably shall.

Also, with absolute certainty we shall read yet another such Accident Report for exactly the same causes set forth in the coming Report.

EMS Helicopter Pilots must not be able to read and comprehend the written word based upon that.

Which makes this tragedy all the worse......daylight was about an hour away.....and we know how a simple factor such as flying in darkness affects the likelihood of a crash can be so pronounced.

Until the EMS Crews all accept they are not in the Life Saving business and are just providing safe, reliable, medical transportation by Helicopter....will the safety stats significantly improve.

Management has a major role to play in achieving that improvement.

Rather than critiquing flights that end in tragedy....perhaps the Industry should critique all of the flights that do not end in tragedy to ensure all of the Industry Best Practices are maintained.

The Crews themselves should be honest when they do their post flight critiques and feel free to accurately report up the chain of command the narrow misses that occurred.

But....I know with absolute certainty that is not something the industry will support.

With the advent of cheap, bare bones, community based EMS operations that must fly in order to pay the Bills.....the pressure is too fly....not reject flights.

Fancy words on slick advertising handouts....does not equate to reality far too often and we all know it.

Absolutely correct SAS, I could have said the same although with added cursing and swearing.
However there IS a handout with names and phone numbers....

Why aren't pilots aborting, diverting or landing when issues are encountered????

Very good point! The same risky behaviour doesn't become acceptable just because you got a away with it this time.

Looking at the map....the crash site is in the middle of a very dark area.....anyone have the weather reports for the time for one. hour before to one hour after the crash?

Archived Wx and Archived Wx