NTSB Looks at Chopper Fatalities

Records: Most air-ambulance crashes due to rule violations

Alan Levin USA TODA 2009 Feb 3

Rule violations and risky behavior on air-ambulance flights are killing patients, medical crews and pilots, a USA TODAY review of federal accident records shows.

Five of the nine fatal helicopter crashes between December 2007 and October involved flying at night into poor weather that pilots were not prepared for, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The nine accidents killed 35 people, including six patients, the most deaths ever during a 12-month period in the industry.

In three cases, the NTSB found that pilots violated rules or took risky actions, such as accepting a flight after another pilot refused to fly because of bad weather.

Crashes caused by such errors have vexed air-ambulance companies and federal regulators for years. A 2005 USA TODAY report on the air-ambulance industry found numerous cases in which pilots flouted rules. The NTSB has repeatedly called for safety enhancements in the industry. "There appear to be similarities between these and accidents that we've seen in the past," said NTSB member Robert Sumwalt, who starting today will chair a four-day hearing into the recent surge in air-ambulance fatal crashes.

The crashes have prompted several calls for tighter regulation. A consortium of helicopter industry groups is recommending that helicopters on medical missions be required to carry night-vision equipment or be capable of flying in zero visibility while flying in the dark. "If you have an accident and you think it was preventable, that's not acceptable," said Matthew Zuccaro, president of Helicopter Association International, one of the groups calling for the new rules.

According to NTSB data on the crashes:

• On Dec. 3, 2007, an Evergreen Helicopters of Alaska flight went down in the ocean near Whittier, Alaska, after the pilot flew into stormy conditions at night in violation of federal rules. The rules required that pilots maintain sight of lights on the ground while flying at night. In addition, the pilot was using night-vision goggles but had not received the required training on them. The company was supposed to study the risks of each flight before it took off, but the risk reviews could not be found after the crash. The crash killed four people.

• An Air Evac EMS helicopter crashed on Dec. 30, 2007, while helping locate a lost hunter in woods near Cherokee, Ala. Moments before the crash, another employee tried to talk the pilot out of continuing the low-altitude search because of safety concerns. The company manuals forbid such low-altitude searches, but an official argued that the rules did not apply because the flight did not have a patient aboard. The helicopter lost control, killing the pilot and two medical workers.

• On June 8, an Air Methods helicopter crashed in a national forest near Huntsville, Texas. Another pilot had turned back because of fog after trying to pick up the same patient. The Air Methods pilot accepted the flight and crashed in the spot where the first pilot had found the fog.

• Other crashes involved puzzling mistakes by pilots. Two air-ambulance helicopters collided June 29 while flying to a hospital in Flagstaff, Ariz., during clear daytime conditions. Seven people died.