R44 Down in Fiji
 

Sad news coming from Fiji, an R44 registration DQ-HPT crashed on Friday night whilst doing a medivac with 3 on board.

Some of the debris from the crash has washed up ashore and they have recovered one body, they are still searching for the bodies of the pilot and child. According to reports the helicopter went missing at 6:45pm on Friday night so it would have been dark and they were flying over water.

Search fijisun or fijivillage for the news articles

R44. At night. Over water. Single pilot. I'm lost for words.
And mention in the Fiji media that the search/rescue effort on the night was not launched due to approaching bad weather.

Gulli - agreed, it beggars belief - we often see comments here that there are no new ways of crashing a helicopter and this guy seems to have proved it.

And I guess there would be no training or maintaining of currency at night in anticipation of any mercy flight.

It wasn't a night flight, it was reported overdue that night. There is no night flying in Fiji unless its a mercy flight, this med evac was day VFR.
Bad weather and getting worse and a pilot that unfortunately wasn't experienced enough to say no.

According to this report it crashed at night. Maybe they have miss reported. Or maybe not.

https://fijisun.com.fj/2019/08/05/he...ions-continue/

I didnt know Frank had brought out a stretched 44.....

How on earth would you put a patient in a 44??

According to that news link above, the patient was a 2-year old child.

It was a SICK 2 year old child - the article says the pilot 'looked at the weather BUT his heart was for the child and he wanted to help the child get medical attention.'

Sadly this says everything - trying to fly a sick child in a 4 seat aircraft with I assume no medical modification is itself unbelievable - how do you immobilise let alone monitor the patient? And to launch into what appears from the report to be inclement weather just lined up the holes in the cheese.

RIP

Maybe the child was 100% going to die if not transferred. Tough not to take a calculated risk. There but for the grace of God...

but it is exactly that thought process that keeps costing lives instead of preserving them - the mercy mission by someone inappropriately trained or equipped so often ends in disaster.

Of course. But do the math - if for example 100% child fatality if not transferred, Say for example 10% probability of catastrophic mission failure. Abort the mission 10 times is 10 child deaths. Perform the mission 10 times is 1 child death, one pilot death one carer death. 10 vs 3 who's to say which is worse?

Sorry KJ I cannot believe you are serious. Even ignoring the risk to people on the ground are you really advocating accepting deaths of pilots and healthcare workers every tenth flight???? Crab is right - this sort of nonsense is what is costing innocent lives in the EMS world and amongst well meaning amateurs. Even in standard land ambulances we do not put healthcare workers at risk even if patients come to harm as a result - your argument would result in hundreds of dead and maimed ambulance workers just attending standard trauma events on our roads. And a helicopter in this respect is just an expensive ambulance

Of course I am not seriously advocating this. Sheesh. Jeez guys, do I have to spell it out for you? Do you all have to treat everything you read literally?

Just pointing out that it's just so easy to be all pious and holier than thou when sitting behind your keyboard.

As to being serious "risk to people on ground"? FFS discussion was re island to island hops in Fiji not a flight across NYC!

I think a lot of you haven't traveled much and have no idea what people in places like Fiji are dealing with.