Concern network

June 24, 2007 

CALSTAR's (Ukiah, CA) A 109MKII was responding to a scene call in a remote area. During final approach to the ground, the tail rotor struck a small bush, resulting in damage to both tail rotor blade tip caps. The pilot felt a slight vibration in the tail rotor pedals when the tail rotor struck the bush. The landing was completed without further incident. The postflight inspection revealed the damage to the tail rotor tip caps. The flight was terminated, and the patient was transported by another air ambulance. There were no injuries and patient care/transport was completed without delay or incident. The weather was clear and not a factor, and the program acts as its own vendor.

June 25, 2007 

During cruise flight approx. 15 nm west of Billings, the HELP Flight (Billings, MT) crew heard a loud bang in the EC135P1, followed immediately by failure of the #1 engine. The pilot completed the emergency engine shut-down procedure and landed without incident at the Billings airport. The patient and crew were transported by ground from the airport to St. Vincent Healthcare. The weather was clear and not a factor, and Metro Aviation is the vendor.

June 29, 2007 

While a Spirit Medical Transportation Service (Marshfield, WI) crew was en route to an interfacility request and about 10 minutes into flight, the Bell 222UT pilot noted a low oil pressure indicator light and low oil pressure readings for the transmission. Dispatch was notified of an unscheduled landing, and the pilot elected to make an immediate precautionary landing in a rural field. The oil line to the transmission was found ruptured.

Mission was aborted with subsequent notification of the requesting hospital. Crew was transported back to base by ground, oil line was replaced, and the helicopter was returned to service within approximately 2 hours of the incident. The weather was clear and not a factor, and AirMethods is the vendor.

July 1, 2007 

St. Mary's CareFlight was en route to Grand River Medical Center (Rifle, CO) for a patient requiring interfacility transport to St. Mary's Hospital & Medical Center in Grand Junction. Approximately 10 minutes into the flight, the Bell 412EP pilot and medical crew noted unusual aircraft vibration and decided to abort the transport and return to Grand Junction. St. Mary's Air Com was notified, and the CareFlight King Air 200 was dispatched to complete the transport. The aircraft returned safely to the St. Mary's Hospital Helipad and placed out of service. The weather was clear and not a factor, and PHI is the vendor.

A maintenance inspection thereafter revealed the oil cooler blower blades had made contact with the shroud, requiring replacement of the oil cooler blower assembly. The aircraft was returned to service the next day.

July 21, 2007 

An Agusta A109 Mark II, flying for Airlift Northwest (Seattle, WA), was involved in an accident. While returning to base at a hospital helipad in Bellingham, the pilot attempted to land with the wheels still retracted in the aircraft. After initial contact, the pilot pulled up from the pad, lowered the wheels, and landed without further incident.

The pilot was alone in the aircraft. Antenna, light, and aircraft received damage and were repaired. No injuries were sustained. NOTE: Initial investigation indicates probable failure of radar altimeter, among other factors.

The weather was clear and not a factor, and CJ Systems is the program's vendor.

July 28, 2007 

A team from Air Evac EMS, Inc. (West Plains, MO) in a BH 206 LongRanger responded to Quitman County Hospital shortly after 1 a.m. to transfer a patient from Marks, MS, to The Medical Center in Memphis. The aircraft had just lifted from the hospital helipad when, during a vertical lift, the aircraft began a rotation to the right. The pilot took corrective actions but also maneuvered to avoid obstacles and descended very hard next to the helipad. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The flight paramedic and patient were extricated from the aircraft by local EMS and fire department personnel. Paramedic was flown by another Air Evac Lifeteam crew to The Medical Center in Memphis, where he was hospitalized. The patient was transported by ground to the same Memphis hospital. The pilot and flight nurse were evaluated at Quitman County Hospital and released. The FAA was notified, made a site visit, and released the aircraft to Air Evac EMS, Inc.

The weather was clear and not a factor, and the program acts as its own vendor.

July 30, 2007 

While taking off from the home base airport (Felts Field) en route to a scene call, an EC-135 air medical helicopter had a near miss with another aircraft. Under tower control, a Cessna was cleared to land on the active runway at the same time the EC-135 was cleared to depart on a taxiway that parallels the runway in use, followed by a turn over the parallel runway. The Cessna conducted an unannounced go-around instead of landing, which put them on a collision path with the helicopter. Fortunately, the aircraft was spotted by a Northwest MedStar (Spokane, WA) crewmember, and the helicopter pilot took evasive action to avoid a collision. There were no injuries. The weather was clear and not a factor, and Metro Aviation is the vendor.

August 4, 2007 

An Air Angels (Bolingbrook, IL) pilot made a precautionary landing after experiencing a partial loss of power in the Bell 222 upon approach into a landing site. There were no injuries to anyone in the aircraft (pilot, flight RN, flight medic) or on the ground. However, the aircraft did sustain damage due to a post-landing fire in the engine compartment. The weather was clear and not a factor, and the program acts as its own vendor.

August 4, 2007 

Life Flight 76 (Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, Boise, ID) was en route to an area east of Twin Falls, Idaho, to search for a lost child. While in cruise flight at 5,500 feet ASL, the pilot spotted 2 small helium party balloons at his altitude. After a quick scan to ensure visual separation with the balloons, he looked back at 12 o'clock just prior to impacting a large hawk. An evasive maneuver was attempted, but the bird struck the center of the EC-135's nose between both plexiglass windows, just above the fixed landing light. It did penetrate the aircraft skin, but no debris flew into the cockpit. The aircraft then landed immediately and without difficulty in an undeveloped area. The program's PAIP was initiated, and the mission was cancelled shortly thereafter by the requesting agency.

The aircraft remained grounded at the LZ until a ferry permit was received from the FAA to fly the aircraft to the maintenance facility at the Boise Airport. A back-up aircraft was moved to Twin Falls to service the area. The weather was clear and not a factor, and CJ Systems is the program's vendor.

August 4, 2007 

En route from Rochester, MN, to Pierre, SD, at 20,000 feet, the Mayo MedAir Medical Transport's King Air C90's left engine experienced a loss of power, followed by increasing engine temperature. The flight crew followed company procedures by shutting down and securing the engine. A single engine approach and landing were accomplished in Sioux Falls without incident. The medical and flight crew returned to the base via ground transport. The patient was transported by another CAMTS-accredited program. The weather was clear and not a factor.

August 5, 2007 

Shortly after take off from Sierra Blanco Regional Airport, a King Air C-90 belonging to Southwest Med Evac (Las Cruces, NM) went down. Everyone on board was killed:

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation of the accident, and the program, which serves as its own vendor, is assisting with the investigation. Weather was determined not to be a factor.

August 9, 2007 

While maneuvering for departure from an MVA LZ, Meducare's (North Charleston, SC) aircraft tail rotor struck a tree limb. The BK-117 landed at the scene. Aircraft damage was limited to tailboom and tail rotor. Patient was transported via ground, and aircraft was recovered after FAA release. The weather was clear and not a factor, and Omniflight is the vendor.

August 10, 2007 

AirMed 1 (Augusta, GA) lifted from Spartanburg Regional Medical Center (SC) with an intubated burn patient onboard, inbound to Joseph M Stills Burn Center in Augusta, GA. Approximately 15 minutes into the flight, the Agusta 119 pilot noted an increase in the engine oil temperature. Pilot continued to monitor readings and noted the temperature reading reached critical limits. While attempting to locate a suitable LZ, pilot experienced severe rotor droop, lowered the collective, and increased rotor speed. At this time no indications of engine failure were noted. Pilot then increased collective and again experienced sever rotor droop. At this point the pilot initiated an autorotation into a field. No injuries to any crewmembers or the patient, and no damage to the aircraft noted. Patient was transported by ground EMS with flight crew on board. The weather was clear and not a factor, and the program acts as its own vendor.

August 10, 2007 

An EC135 P1 belonging to Life Air Rescue (Shreveport, LA) experienced partial power loss to the #1 engine while en route from a scene call in DeSoto Parish to a local hospital in Shreveport. A precautionary landing was made at Shreveport Regional Airport without incident. Patient transport was completed by the flight crew via ground ambulance. Maintenance replaced EEC on #1 engine, and the aircraft was returned to service the next day. The weather was clear and not a factor, and Metro Aviation is the vendor.

August 12, 2007

FBO personnel were towing Intermountain Life Flight's (Salt Lake City, UT) King Air B-200 out of the hangar with one hangar door disabled. Wing walker failed to alert the tug driver of close proximity of the wing to the broken hangar door, and the tip of the wing was damaged upon striking the door. The aircraft was repaired and placed back into service within approximately 48 hours.