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Both single- and double-engine helicopters are common in EMS work, but most medical helicopters fly with just one pilot. Metro Life Flight is one of just a handful of programs in the country that always flies choppers with two engines and two pilots. Founded in 1982, the program has logged just under 66,000 patient flights without a single accident. "I wouldn't fly any other way," says Drew Ferguson, Metro Life Flight's lead pilot. "I don't want to die." Cleveland Metro's Sikorsky S76A started life as a taxi for corporate executives. It is heavy, fast...
...night or in bad weather. Flying an underpowered helicopter blind in foul weather is a common cause of fatal crashes, safety experts say. "There's nothing wrong with the Bell 206, but you have to recognize it's a small aircraft," says Vernon Albert, who founded 34 EMS flight programs, 15% of the nation's total fleet. "But where I get the rub is when the weather turns bad or gets dark. It's pretty limited in those conditions...
...years, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has pushed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to impose tougher regulations on the medical helicopter industry. In 2008 the board placed rules requiring terrain awareness technology, flight and weather tracking systems, and stricter weather minimums at the top of its "most wanted" list of changes to reduce fatalities. The board first recommended these changes three years ago. Had the FAA implemented them, 29 of the last 55 accidents could have been prevented, says NTSB vice chairman Robert Sumwalt. "We want to pressure the FAA to make changes so that these crashes stop occurring...
...accidents. Air Methods Corp. of Englewood, Colorado operates 335 aircraft, the largest medical helicopter fleet in the U.S. Last year, the company experienced two fatal crashes in two months. The first accident, in May 2008, may fit the industry's crash profile. The helicopter went down on a night flight to the airport in Madison, Wisconsin, possibly as it encountered rain and fog, according to the transportation safety board's initial report. Three crew members died...
...June, an Air Methods helicopter crashed into another chopper in mid-air on a sunny day over Flagstaff, Arizona, killing seven. Even though the second crash did not fit the pattern, pilots experiencing emergencies when they hit low visibility - which is called "unplanned transition to Instrument Flight Rules" in industry parlance - "is a common theme," says Brian Foster, Air Methods' director of operations...