NTSB Sheds Some Light on Fatal EMS Crash

Air Safety Week, Nov 10, 2008

A Maryland State Police medevac helicopter crashed Sept. 27 after encountering inclement weather and was unable to execute an instrument landing at its home base according to the National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report on the fatal EMS accident.

The pilot of the Aerospatale AS365 helicopter (N92MD), the flight paramedic, a state trooper, an emergency medical technician from a rescue squad station in Waldorf, MD, and one of the victims of a car crash were killed when the chopper went down. Another of the auto accident victims survived in critical condition.

At 11:58 p.m. on Sept. 27, Trooper 2 was approaching Andrews AFB in Camp Springs, MD. The pilot had tried to land at Prince George's Hospital Center, Cheverly, MD, but diverted to Andrews AFB, because of poor visibility, according to the report.

The crew of Trooper 2 reported encountering severe weather while returning from Waldorf. The crew requested that paramedics rendezvous with the helicopter at its hangar at Andrews AFB. Two ambulances were dispatched to the base and paramedics were standing by, waiting to ferry the patients the remaining 13 miles to the hospital when air traffic controllers at the base reported losing radio contact with the helicopter.

The control tower at Andrews AFB had cleared the chopper to land, but the pilot notified the tower he was not receiving glide slope signals needed to land. The controller replied that the monitor was "green," meaning there were no faults in the system on the ground. T2 then requested an Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR) approach," according to the report. The controller responded that she was "not current and qualified to provide that service." (In fact, an FAA spokesman said ASR approaches are provided by FAA approach facilities, in this case Potomac Approach Control, not airport tower controllers.) There was no further radio transmissions from Trooper 2.

When Trooper 2 disappeared, the state police helicopter dispatcher in Baltimore contacted Trooper 8, located in Norwood, MD and asked the pilot to launch a search. Trooper 8 headed toward Andrews AFB, but encountered low-level clouds two miles from the base and had to turn back. The pilot and his medic then drove to the area where Trooper 2 disappeared, locating the downed helicopter at 1:30 a.m. The helicopter had come to rest deep inside a 470-acre regional park in Forestville, MD.

[Copyright 2006 Access Intelligence, LLC. All rights reserved.]