# Helicopter Pilot Avoids Crash



## MMiz (Nov 5, 2009)

*Helicopter Pilot Avoids Crash *

It was a close call for the crew of the LifeNet Helicopter Wednesday night. The crew flew to an area east of Council Bluffs to pick up a man who had fallen. When the helicopter took off, it caught a power line.

This happened at the intersection of Cardinal Lane and Overland Trail.

*Read more (very little)*


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## foxfire (Nov 5, 2009)

*my neck of the woods!*

Wow! I need to come out of my cave every now and then.
 some of the comments that are on the news page.<_<
 I think that the crew tried to do what was best for the Pt.


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## usafmedic45 (Nov 5, 2009)

> some of the comments that are on the news page



"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."- attributed to Winston Churchill



> I think that the crew tried to do what was best for the Pt.



Let's not go there and say we did OK?  Let's just be thankful this crew AND their patient lived to see another day and did not wind up as statistics.


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## foxfire (Nov 5, 2009)

http://http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/69326197.html
Here is a update on it all.


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## mycrofft (Nov 6, 2009)

*Let's put wirecutters on the LifeFlights!*

East of Council Bluffs used to be..... nothing. Wait, maybe the Gret Dane trailer factory and the Iowa State University apple orchard.


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## foxfire (Nov 6, 2009)

usafmedic45 said:


> Let's not go there and say we did OK?  Let's just be thankful this crew AND their patient lived to see another day and did not wind up as statistics.



I don't understand what you mean about the "not going there and say we did"
please enlighten me.


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## usafmedic45 (Nov 7, 2009)

foxfire said:


> I don't understand what you mean about the "not going there and say we did"
> please enlighten me.


I was trying to avoid this turning into a debate over the benefits (real and alleged) and risks of aeromedical operations that these threads often devolve towards.


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## reaper (Nov 7, 2009)

Well, considering they were maybe 15 minutes from the trauma center. There was no real need for air transport for this pt.

Ground personel need to be doing a better job of making that decision. Is the helo really needed? will it make a difference in the outcome? 

Lets stop putting lives in danger because we are A) to scared to handle a serious pt in the truck, B ) Not educated enough to handle that pt or make the transport decision, or C) to lazy to make the drive in!


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## foxfire (Nov 8, 2009)

usafmedic45 said:


> I was trying to avoid this turning into a debate over the benefits (real and alleged) and risks of aeromedical operations that these threads often devolve towards.



yeah, I understand what you mean. I have noticed that also.
thanks^_^


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## EMSLaw (Nov 8, 2009)

I'm glad everything worked out.

But the headline is something like "Dog Bites Man."  I mean... aren't helicopter pilots /supposed/ to avoid crashes.


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## BLSBoy (Nov 9, 2009)

EMSLaw said:


> I'm glad everything worked out.
> 
> But the headline is something like "Dog Bites Man."  I mean... aren't helicopter pilots /supposed/ to avoid crashes.



Bad LZs, mechanical malfunction and overuse.


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## EMSLaw (Nov 9, 2009)

BLSBoy said:


> Bad LZs, mechanical malfunction and overuse.



Ironic, considering you're from New Jersey.  MONOC 1 just lost it's lease on a chopper because they weren't flying enough to make it profitable, and the State Police (NorthSTAR and SouthSTAR) are commonly called "CloudSTAR" because they won't fly when there's even a hint of bad weather.  

So, I can agree with the first two, but I'm not sure about the third.


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## usafmedic45 (Nov 9, 2009)

> the State Police (NorthSTAR and SouthSTAR) are commonly called "CloudSTAR" because they won't fly when there's even a hint of bad weather



Which is actually a good thing from a safety standpoint and something of a freakish rarity in the HEMS industry.  



> Bad LZs, mechanical malfunction and overuse



The first and last probably had something to do with it (mostly the former).  I've not heard anything conclusive that says anything failed on the aircraft, other than the pilot to maintain a sufficient lookout for wires.  Very few HEMS crashes result from mechanical failures.  Most of it is poor decision making, insufficient avionics, corporate pressure, bad weather or some combination of one or more or all of the above.  



> aren't helicopter pilots /supposed/ to avoid crashes



Yeah, but judging by the safety record of HEMS, they don't do the best job of it.  Even in this case, they technically did not avoid a crash.  He flew into the wires.  The fact that by some miracle (or skillful handling of the aircraft), no one died does not mean it wasn't a crash in the strictest sense of the word.  If the NTSB or FAA get involved, it was a crash.


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## BLSBoy (Nov 9, 2009)

I have noticed that a major contributing factor has been lack of NVGs as well.


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## usafmedic45 (Nov 10, 2009)

> I have noticed that a major contributing factor has been lack of NVGs as well.



I was lumping that under "avionics" along with terrain avoidance and warning systems (TAWS), etc.   That said, I think the push for NVGs has been a little overzealous as though it's a magical cure-all for what ails the HEMS industry and quite frankly it has a potential to make operations more dangerous if you put them in the hands of companies that are already not sufficiently risk averse to not use the NVGs as an excuse to further push the limits.  It's one of those catch-22 scenarios in aviation: you find a technology that helps minimize a risk and some idiot (or group of idiots) decides to use it to allow them to get themselves into a zero sum game of chicken with the lives of themselves and their passengers.

Honestly I think if they are going to try to fly in marginal weather (instrument conditions) at night (which is more or less instrument flight rules unless you're over a very well lit area) they should be following the lead of the US military and commercial helicopter operations in almost every country but the US and have dual pilot operations as a standard practice.  It won't happen unless the FAA's testicles suddenly drop enough to allow them to mandate it because the cost associated with it (in terms of payroll, retraining and, often, new helicopters able to handle the increased loads) would effectively drive out of business the fly-by-night (no pun intended) operations such as AirEvac Lifeteam (using them as an example due to their dubious distinction of having the worst safety record in HEMS) that use the cheapest helicopters possible and skate by praying that they don't lose more people rather than fixing the problems already identified in crash after crash.  

Just my two cents as a pilot and as someone who does aviation safety research at his second (non-clinical) job....


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