Posted on 04/27/2018 11:46:30 AM PDT by buckalfa
HAZELHURST, Wis. (WSAW) -- An NTSB investigator from Chicago is expected to arrive in Hazelhurst Friday afternoon to determine what caused a medical helicopter to crash, killing three people.
The victims, who have not been named, include the pilot and two crew members.
NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said a Eurocopter AS350 B2 helicopter departed Madison after a patient transport, and was returning to its base in Woodruff and crashed about 12 miles south of its destination. The helicopter is from Ascension.
A spokesman for Ascension released a statement:
We are deeply saddened and mourning the loss of three teammates who were aboard the air medical helicopter that went down in Hazelhurst, Wisconsin on April 26.
Our heartfelt sympathies and condolences go out to the families and friends of the crew onboard. We will not release any names at this time to respect the privacy of their families.
The accident is currently under investigation by the NTSB and FAA and we will support their work in every way possible.
In addition, we have made the decision to suspend operations of our air and ground medical transport units until we determine when it is appropriate to resume operations. We are working with our EMS partners and medical transportation colleagues in the region to meet the needs of patient transport.
We would like to thank the dedicated Emergency Response professionals in our community who have been responding to this incident.
Medivac helicopters seem to have a significant accident rate.
Somebody must have investigated seeking a common cause, but I haven’t seen it.
I know there’s a particular fuel tank design/placement issue that is said to make fire/explosion more likely, but what about the crashes in the first place?
Early morning spring and fall weather brings fog and IFITG, inadvertent flight into ground. Throw in possible shortcuts on maintenance and training and you might get disaster.
Some people should just not fly.
My granddaughter is a certified nurse practitioner specializing in Neo Natal/preemie care. She is also helicopter trained and flies nearly four times a week to rescue sick and traumatized babies from the nearby Native American Reservations. It breaks my heart to hear what some of those babies have suffered.
This kind of story is shocking in an age of incredible air safety otherwise; there must be something going on. I don’t claim to know what ails them, but I think this transportation by chopper is over used. The cost is just insane.
“this transportation by chopper is over used. The cost is just insane.”......
UNTIL YOU NEED THEM. I live a minimum of 70+ miles for a major medical facility which offers helicopter ambulance service. There have a few times when such transportation would have been welcomed, definitely in the winter months here in Wisconsin. Living here you never let your vehicles fuel gauge show “1/2 Full”
RIP.
The pressure for crews to fly patients in marginal conditions can be intense to generate revenue and an argument can be made that many patients are not true flight emergencies. As to airline versus airmedical safety, few medcopters have instrument flight capability or other toys required of the big carriers.
You are absolutely correct. If one feels the need for one, the cost be damned at that time and that place from that perspective. I am in Wisconsin, 22 or three miles from a Big Medicine central, and the choppers run quite often over our farm, from there and then back, with the interstate there for the nearly all the distance, and highly equipped road-ready emergency vehicles at the ready within a few miles. The chopper ride runs around $15,000, so when it is time to settle up the bill, it matters all right.
Flying and many other things. I recently accompanied a family member to the medical cartel urgent care for a known need, and, once within their clutches, for the love of God, it was insane.
Those days must both break her heart and fulfill it at the same time. She is doing such beautiful work, please tell her thank you:) I can feel your pride:)
Hope is a special blessing to all who know her.
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