Copter Crash Kills Little Girl, Crew Of 3

Medical Helicopter Carrying 1-Year-Old Patient Apparently Clipped Radio Tower Wire

(AP)  A medical helicopter taking a 1-year-old girl to a Chicago hospital crashed and burned in a suburban forest preserve overnight, killing all four aboard, authorities said Thursday.

It was the sixth fatal crash involving medical helicopters this year, according to federal data, including one just last month in Maryland that also killed four.

The helicopter carrying 1-year-old Kirstian Blockinger of Leland was headed for Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago from Valley West Hospital in Sandwich when it went down minutes before midnight, Aurora police spokesman Sgt. Rob Wallers said.

Evidence indicates it clipped a radio tower support wire before the crash, Wallers said. A snapped wire could be seen hanging from the 750-foot tower, which stands across a busy road from the crash site.

Authorities said engineers were evaluating the tower's stability. No one on the ground was hurt.

Children's Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Julie Pesch said the child was en route to the Chicago hospital after a closer hospital had no room for her there. She initially said the girl had suffered epileptic seizures, but later said she could not reveal the nature of the medical problem because of privacy rules.

Wallers said the helicopter belonged to Air Angels Inc., an emergency medical transport service based in suburban Bolingbrook.

Air Angels CEO Jim Adams told reporters the helicopter's crew consisted of the pilot, a nurse and a paramedic. The pilot did not report mechanical problems, and weather was not an issue, he said.

Aurora Police identified the three as Dell Waugh, 69; William Mann, 31; and Ronald Battiato, 41, but did not specify which one held which position in the crew.

Investigators of the National Transportation Safety Board were at the accident scene, Wallers said.

The girl was initially to go to Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, but its pediatric intensive care unit was full. That would have required a shorter helicopter trip, but the crash occurred before the helicopter would have reached either hospital.

On Sept. 28, a medical helicopter carrying traffic accident victims crashed in a Maryland suburb, killing four of the five people on board. On June 8, a copter crashed on an isolated ranch in the Sam Houston National Forest in Texas, killing a patient and three crew members. Those and other crashes have raised questions on whether medical ambulance flights are overused.

A January 2003 crash killed an Air Angels pilot. The company had another crash in August of last year, but no one was hurt that time.

[yonkdaddy]

I can not believe how ignorant and insensative some people are, meg001. It is deplorable that you use this horrible incident as a soap box for your personal political views. I too am a pilot and I can say with confidence that night vision equipment would have been of no value in preventing this terrible accident. Also, look at the statistics relating to deaths involving accidents during transport by ground abmulance. I think you will find that the rate of fatalities is far greater than by air. Is this somehow President Bush''s fault too. How about showing some sympathy for the families of the victims and try growing up.

[Meg003]

While many helicopter pilots are responsible and experienced, there are fewer regulations for helicopter pilots. They can fly as low as they like, invade your privacy, and endanger themselves and others, yet the FAA doesn''t really care much.

We reported our neighbor for flying so low he nearly clipped trees and power lines. The FAA retorted that he must know the trees are there, so he isn''t going to hit them.

Well, he did, and wrecked the copter. Thank goodness he and his passengers were not critically injured.

[cdfoxtrot4]

Should these people be added to the list of victims of Bush''s illegal war? The pilots of these medivac helicopters are being denied night vision goggles as all supplies are being diverted to the illegal war. Being denied the absolute best in equipment is a scandal and all the more reason to end the illegal war sooner rather than later.

[montanaman9]

Are they monitored for safety the way commercial planes are or are they privately owned and operated?


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Posted by annrckhll

As a pilot, I can tell you that these air ambulances are extremely safe, with very advanced certifications required of the pilots. More often than not you will find ex-military trained pilots with thousands of hours in type-rated aircraft. Whether they are privately owned and operated does not matter. However, accidents can and do happen, especially when humans are involved. My sympathy to the families...

[Kaliu3W]

Great. Having had two family members airlifted from one hospital to another this year, it frightens me to think...what might have happened. I feel so bad for the families of the crash victims. Are they monitored for safety the way commercial planes are or are they privately owned and operated?

[myopinion381]

What a horrible loss of life. My thoughts are with all the families.