BO105 Crashes in Florida
Helimech
in a swampy area close to the Florida Turnpike near Kissimme, Fla.
According to the report approx. 15 minutes after takeoff the last radio
transmission heard was "The damn thing quit" (My first guess is main pump
switches being left off) Three on board and everyone appears to be OK or as
the report states "The injuries were all non life threatning. Great news
there. This BO is flown out of Holmes Regional Medical Center, in Melbourne
and is owned and operated by Metro Aviation, out of Shreveport, LA.That all
I got for now. JC
orland...@webtv.net
Florida Turnpike and crashed right near the car accident scene...so
there were already plenty of medical people on the scene. Crash was
in a swampy area...among some trees...so the rescue crews had to wade
out in almost chest deep water to reach them. Pilot has head
injuries...and the flight nurse and flight medic are suffering from..one
a broken jaw and shoulder...and the second a punctured lung as well as
other injuries. Apparantly there is a statement that the helo was at
first not going to respond, but no one is saying why at the
moment...could have been due to heavy fog in the area. The car accident
was not that serious...just looked that way so that is why the helo was
sent in the first place. Pilot has 32 years experience. Looks as if
another helo will be used to lift the downed '105...access is limited.
BTW...did anyone catch that video last night or today of that helo that
crashed in Calif?? It looks to be a 206....doing firefighting. Video was
shot from a distance....and a bus is partly obscuring the crash, but you
can see the helo on it's side going down.....blades turning
perpendicular to the ground and striking a powerline. Helo burst into
flames and burned up...pilot walked away!
"Closing time....Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's
end"
mikepatt...@spammindspring.com
<<SNIP>>
>-BTW...did anyone catch that video last night or today of that helo that
>-crashed in Calif?? It looks to be a 206....doing firefighting. Video was
>-shot from a distance....and a bus is partly obscuring the crash, but you
>-can see the helo on it's side going down.....blades turning
>-perpendicular to the ground and striking a powerline. Helo burst into
>-flames and burned up...pilot walked away!
>-
I respectfully suggest that the pilot did not walk.
He ran...with that pecular waddle of a man with something more in his
shorts than his body parts.
Mike
Gun Control:
The theory that a woman found dead in an alley,
strangled with her panty hose, is somehow morally
superior to a woman explaining to police how her
attacker got that fatal bullet wound.
orland...@webtv.net
that pecular waddle of a man with something more in his shorts than his
body parts>>>.
Mike...totally agree with youn on this! :-) The guy used up 8 of his
lives on that one!
orland...@webtv.net
Lenny Savino
of The Sentinel Staff
Published in The Orlando Sentinel on September 11, 1999.
KENANSVILLE -- Shards of metal showered down upon rescue workers early
Friday as they ran for cover when a medical helicopter crashed on its
way to pick up an injured motorist.
Despite falling nearly 100 feet, all three occupants of the air
ambulance survived the 3:15 a.m. crash near Florida's Turnpike at Lake
Marian early Friday.
"We saw the helicopter hovering over some cypress trees," said Don Bell,
the Osceola County Fire & Rescue chief on scene. "There was a pop sound
and the helicopter dipped and started falling. As soon as the rotor hit
one of the trees, the nose and tail went into a complete spin to the
ground."
Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Don McDuffie said the crew could easily
have been killed.
"If it was a power failure that caused the crash, it could have happened
right over the highway," McDuffie said. "They dropped a good 70 or 80
feet, so they were extremely lucky."
As the helicopter approached the patch of cypress trees, McDuffie said,
its front spotlight went out. The chopper wasn't high enough to clear
the trees and ran into them.
After the twin turbine-engined helicopter tumbled onto its side in the
cypress patch, paramedics struggled in the dark through a swamp to reach
it.
"We had to go about 200 yards," Bell said.
"There were two ditches that looked dry but when we went in there, the
water was neck deep."
If it weren't for the helicopter's interior lights staying on after the
crash, Bell said it would have been difficult to find. The lights went
out as soon as paramedics reached the badly damaged helicopter.
Billy Miller, 56, the pilot, suffered scalp lacerations. Chris O'Connor,
31, a nurse, suffered a mild concussion. Brian Rieselbara, 41, a medic,
had right shoulder and leg pain. All three were in fair condition on
Friday after being transferred from Orlando to Holmes Regional Medical
Center in Melbourne.
Rescue workers had been at the site since about 2:30 a.m. for a one-car
crash on the turnpike. They had requested a helicopter from Holmes in
case someone in the Jeep that rolled over was seriously hurt.
"The accident was about 60 miles from the nearest hospital," McDuffie
said. "So it's standard procedure in a serious accident like this to
request air care because of the likelihood of a serious injury."
The driver of the 1993 Jeep, Ryan Brandon, 20, of Shalimar, fell asleep,
troopers said. The car spun across the southbound lanes into the median
and rolled over onto the northbound emergency lane. Two passengers,
Stephany Calhoun, 17, and her sister, Michele, 14, both of Fort Walton
Beach, were also injured.
Brandon and Stephany Calhoun were released after treatment for minor
injuries from St. Cloud Hospital. Michele Calhoun was taken to Arnold
Palmer Hospital for Children & Women with a head injury. She was listed
in stable condition Friday afternoon.
The First Flight helicopter from Holmes initially aborted its trip to
the car crash because of poor visibility from the morning fog, officials
said.
"We said fine but they found a clear patch to fly through and said they
could get through," Bell said.
After the helicopter crashed, an Orange County Sheriff's Office chase
helicopter managed to navigate the thick fog and take the injured pilot
to Orlando Regional Medical Center.
The cause of the helicopter crash has not been determined. Investigators
from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation
Safety Board spent most of Friday examining wreckage from the Eurocopter
BO-105 helicopter, which has been in service at the hospital since 1995.
[Posted 09/10/1999 10:18 PM EST]