Five persons have been killed in the latest air ambulance crash in the country, and the second to occur in Texas in less than two months. The plane crashed on Sunday, July 4th, near the Alpine Casparis Municipal Airport, southeast of El Paso, soon after takeoff. The five victims included a 78-year-old patient, his wife, two flight nurses and the pilot.
According to the Associated Press, the pilot was trying to make an emergency landing when the plane struck a muddy field. The aircraft then flipped over, and burst into flames. The plane was on its way to Midland at the time of the crash. According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the plane is registered in the name of O’Hara Flying Service II LP of Amarillo, Texas. The National Transportation Safety Board has initiated an investigation into the crash.
This plane crash is the second one involving an air ambulance in Texas in less than two months. Early in June, a medical helicopter operated by Careflite crashed outside Midlothian in Ellis County. That helicopter did not have any patients on board. It was on a maintenance flight when it went down in an open field. The helicopter burst into flames soon after. Investigations into that crash are still going on.
The topic of air ambulance safety has been a burning issue for air ambulance lawyers and lawmakers. In 2008, there were Congressional hearings into the causes of these crashes after a series of fatal air ambulance accidents. Researchers reported then that the rate of crashes for these aircraft was approximately twice that for other aircraft. In fact, one aviation expert opined that if commercial airlines had the same crash rate as ambulances, we would have more than 80 commercial airline crashes in the country every year.
In September, the National Transportation Safety Board had a special meeting to discuss regulations in the air ambulance industry. It made several recommendations including the development of specialized pilot training that factored in the unique hazards that these pilots face, periodical simulated training of pilots on FAA-approved systems and implementation of safety management programs that include enhanced risk-management practices.
According to the Associated Press, the pilot was trying to make an emergency landing when the plane struck a muddy field. The aircraft then flipped over, and burst into flames. The plane was on its way to Midland at the time of the crash. According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the plane is registered in the name of O’Hara Flying Service II LP of Amarillo, Texas. The National Transportation Safety Board has initiated an investigation into the crash.
This plane crash is the second one involving an air ambulance in Texas in less than two months. Early in June, a medical helicopter operated by Careflite crashed outside Midlothian in Ellis County. That helicopter did not have any patients on board. It was on a maintenance flight when it went down in an open field. The helicopter burst into flames soon after. Investigations into that crash are still going on.
The topic of air ambulance safety has been a burning issue for air ambulance lawyers and lawmakers. In 2008, there were Congressional hearings into the causes of these crashes after a series of fatal air ambulance accidents. Researchers reported then that the rate of crashes for these aircraft was approximately twice that for other aircraft. In fact, one aviation expert opined that if commercial airlines had the same crash rate as ambulances, we would have more than 80 commercial airline crashes in the country every year.
In September, the National Transportation Safety Board had a special meeting to discuss regulations in the air ambulance industry. It made several recommendations including the development of specialized pilot training that factored in the unique hazards that these pilots face, periodical simulated training of pilots on FAA-approved systems and implementation of safety management programs that include enhanced risk-management practices.
Comments
Post has no comments.