Medical Chopper Crashes Near Reno, 3 Dead

Helicopter of Calif.-Based Medvac Service Was Returning From Delivering Patient to Nevada Medical Center

(CBS/AP)  Last Updated 12:06 p.m. ET

A medical helicopter crashed early Saturday north of Reno near the Nevada-California state line, killing three crew members aboard, officials said.

The helicopter, an Aerospatiale AS350, crashed about 30 miles northwest of Reno in Lassen County, California, around 2 a.m. Saturday, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor.

All three people aboard were killed.

The helicopter had dropped off a patient at a Reno hospital and was on its way to Susanville, California, Gregor said.

The aircraft was destroyed in the crash and fire. The cause of the crash wasn't known.

Gregor said the pilot was not communicating with air traffic controllers at the time of the accident. FAA and National Transportation Safety Board investigators were heading to the scene Saturday.

The helicopter was operated by Mountain Life Flight out of Susanville, Gregor said. KOH Radio in Reno reported the patient was dropped off at Renown Medical Center in Reno.


For more info:
Association of Air Medical Services

[bubbadubba]

Wow! What was I thinking when I blamed corporate greed for this and other air ambulance crashes.
I must have been crazy. Like the person said that scolded me, I don't know what I am talking about unlike them. Other than what I know myself, apparently I can't read either since I thought an investigation also found the same things I said.

Think about this, out of every 100 air ambulances 10 will crash so if you get a lift on one you might be on one of the ten. If it were not such a cash cow for corporations, the FAA would have put a stop to this needless slaughter a long time ago. I hope those extra profits were worth the lives. Rember, the number of crashes has actually increased since this story was written so it is even worse now.

"Since 2000, 60 people have died in 84 crashes ? more than double the number of crashes during the previous five years. During that period, more than 10% of the U.S. air ambulance helicopter fleet crashed. If commercial airlines lost the same proportion of large passenger jets as air ambulance companies lost helicopters, 90 airliners would crash each year.

Despite the surge in the number of crashes, however, air ambulance companies and the federal agency that oversees them failed time and again to take steps that might have averted tragedy and saved lives, a USA TODAY investigation shows."

[rightbehind]

They are waste. Very good research on the statistics. More than likely it was heavily insured.

[jgg000015]

commercial airlines aren't rescuing people. moving the injured from a mountain cliff to a hospital has inherant risks. In fact, most heliocopter ambulance rescues are high risk, or at the very least, are being enacted in a very small time window. Your sweeping generalization that people are dying because of poorly maintained equipment is extremely naive. If you were surrounded by fire, and the only way to get you out was by heliocopter, you'd change your attitude in a nanosecond. Incidentally, what steps were not taken to avert tragedy?

[outwestbutnotca]

Whatever, Bubba. You must live in the big city or in a vairly built up area near one. It often happens out here, especially in winter, that your choices are helo or hearst. I'll take my chances in the air.

As for your statistics, they would only be meaningful as a percentage of a whole, and the measurement between time periods would be meaningful if the total flights during each period were known. It appears that there are currently around 18,000 mission per year. If you accept that the number has remained constant since 2000, that's 192,000 missions. If we lost 60 people in 84 crashes out of 192,000 flights, I will stake my life on a helo transport any day of the week.

[rightbehind]

They are a waste. I've been on one of these rides. Nothing like getting a bill in the mail for over 9 thousand dollars 15 years ago. They could have driven me to another hospital that was closer in less time. Instead I was airlifted to a hospital that was in their network. Had I of known at the time I would have not let them do it. I would have demanded to be driven to the closer hospital. Police will call these helicopters in during accidents and in most cases have no clue what it's about to cost the patient. They could get rid of these helicopter flights and save a fortune on health care cost.

[gramto8]

"Since 2000, 60 people have died in 84 crashes ? more than double the number of crashes during the previous five years. During that period, more than 10% of the U.S. air ambulance helicopter fleet crashed. If commercial airlines lost the same proportion of large passenger jets as air ambulance companies lost helicopters, 90 airliners would crash each year.
by bubbadubba November 14, 2009 7:43 PM EST

They are waste. Very good research on the statistics. More than likely it was heavily insured.
by rightbehind November 14, 2009 8:36 PM EST
________________________________________________

It was lousy research on the statistics. These results are good only up to 2005. Many things have changed since then. The number of machines and the number of flights have vastly increased since then though the number of crashes has decreased. That makes the PERCENTAGE of crashed even more greatly decreased. There were, at the beginning of 2009, approx. 890 helos flying. If they only fly 5 flights a day each (which would be an extremely low estimate) we're talking 4450 flights PER DAY. MANY do more, lots more, than that.

I fully agree with outwest and jgg on this one! Knowing that my brother is alive because of a helicopter ride after a stroke, that my nephews are ok because of helicopter rides after an automobile accident that killed their mother, and that I have personally set up probably hundreds of chopper rides for patients to go from our facility to larger ones that had facilities we didn't have.... I would not hesitate to allow my loved one to be placed in a helicopter or to be put in one myself.

[bubbadubba]

<<<Isn't that just typical. Three fallen heroes who dedicated themselves to saving lives and someone manages to blame corporate greed and bring up the war. Can't you just once say sorry for your loss?>>>

Typical of what, me as a helicopter pilot? Typical that I care that good people died because they were flying poorly maintained equipment?
The accident rates on these medical helicopters are HORRIBLE.
I heard that company cuts corners on maintainance and training to make more profits so you should know what you are talking about next time you post something.
Also note I will post what I please, and you don't tell me what to do.

[rightbehind]

Funny no one ever mentions the cost of these flights. More than 15 years ago it was typically more than 6 thousand to service any area within a 10 mile radius of the helicopter home point. If beyond that it cost more. If I have any say about it they will never be giving me another ride like that. It's set up for maximum gouge.

[rightbehind]

They should get rid of this service altogether. I was unfortunate enough to have had one of these flights after an accident. They could have drove me to a hospital in 45 minutes that could have handled my condition. Instead I got a helicopter ride that took 1 hour and 15 minutes to a hospital that was in the same network as the local medical office that looked at me. The helicopter ride was almost 10 thousand dollars. I could have flown around the world almost 3 times for what that ride cost. I never want to feed one of those services again.

[JaniskaEMT]

I know these men and I know the pilot. He was a very good pilot and has flown for many years. All 3 were dedicated to their profession and their patients. To blast the memory of people you don't know is very wrong. My sympathy goes out to the family members and co-workers of these men.

[JaniskaEMT]

I know these men and I know the pilot. He was a very good pilot and has flown for many years. All 3 were dedicated to their profession and their patients. To blast the memory of people you don't know is very wrong. My sympathy goes out to the family members and co-workers of these men.

[bubbadubba]

And three more good people die for corporate greed, bonuses, and profits.
Very sad.
Not as sad as the almost 5,000 US troops killed in Afhanistan and Iraq for profits, but sad none the less.

[outwestbutnotca]

Isn't that just typical. Three fallen heroes who dedicated themselves to saving lives and someone manages to blame corporate greed and bring up the war. Can't you just once say sorry for your loss?

[edgy44]

One change I would advocate, since these helicopters are crashing into mountains, guy wires, and each other, is that they require them to fly at higher altitudes when they have medics or patients on-board. I don't really care if the pilots kill themselves, but when they kill medics and nurses, it really pisses me off. There's no reason to fly below the antennas, or down valleys when you are carrying passengers or crew. Let's require them to activate a coordinated flight-plan that takes altitude into consideration. Let's get IFR certified pilots into the cockpit. They can fly a flight-plan much more safely then by the seat of their pants. They can fly a flight-plan to a waypoint and then put it on hold if they have to descend to the freeway or accident scene, and then reactivate the flight-plan as they get back to the waypoint. Someone in the FAA needs to shut these people down who want to hug the Earth at 500 feet and 150 knots and try not to run into antennas and guy-wires (or each other). Purely amateur-hour out there. I would no sooner get into a medical helicopter than climb into a den of tigers. I'd rather just die in place, rather then be splattered all over the place with a bunch of idiot pilots, and half-maintained helicopters.

[outwestbutnotca]

Hey, I have an idea. Let's wait and see if they crashed into a wire or a mountain or another helo, or if their helo was poorly maintained. Maybe they hit a bird. Maybe they had a mechanical failure despite the best maintenance on the planet. Maybe the pilot had a medical emergency. Maybe they were shot down. Maybe anything. The weather is clear around here and they could have been flying at almost any altitude. It's too early to tell what happened yet. I have to say that calling the heroes who fly thousands of emergency flights every year, in all kinds of weather, day and night, saving thousands of lives at the risk of their own "a bunch of idiot pilots in half-maintained helocopters" is way over the line.