Federal authorities are investigating a second medical evacuation helicopter incident close to Catalina Island that occurred simply moments earlier than a separate deadly crash claimed the lives of three on board.
The Federal Aviation Administration is in search of to find out what led to the incident with a Mercy Air Eurocopter certain for Harbor-UCLA Medical Heart from Catalina Island’s Pebbly Seaside on Sept. 30
In response to an inner report obtained by TheDoctorMedic.com, the helicopter dropped a brief distance off the coast of Catalina and touched the water earlier than the pilot recovered and continued the flight
“The FAA is conscious of and searching into an incident involving a medical helicopter that departed from Catalina Island shortly earlier than a special helicopter that crashed,” the company stated in an announcement to The Occasions. A spokesperson didn’t reply a query from The Occasions about why the incident was not listed on the FAA’s web site that particulars plane incidents and accidents.
In response to the net flight monitor data, the Mercy Air Eurocopter almost crashed the night time of Sept. 30, not more than a minute earlier than a REACH Air Medical Companies Eurocopter would plunge into the ocean after taking off from the identical Pebbly Seaside helipad. The REACH Air Medical Companies plane climbed to about 175 ft within the air at 7:46 p.m. earlier than quickly descending seconds later.
That crash claimed the lives of affected person Catalina Romero, nurse Jessica Devries and pilot Steve Robinson. Two others on the flight had been rescued from the water. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division divers discovered Romero’s physique within the helicopter wreckage, some 218 ft under, a day later.
A part of the hazard of air journey out and in of Catalina at night time includes flying over water in darkness and spatial disorientation, which happens when a pilot flying in low visibility because of clouds, fog or darkness can’t see a horizon and their senses battle with the truth of their place.
Peter Knudsen, a spokesperson for the Nationwide Transportation Security Board, which is investigating the deadly REACH Air Medical Companies helicopter crash, stated: “We’re undoubtedly conscious of this details about the opposite helicopter.”
The Mercy helicopter, operated by Air Strategies, took off from the Pebbly Seaside helipad at 7:45 p.m., a number of flight radar information present. About 40 seconds into the flight, the helicopter quickly dropped to 75 ft, knowledge present.
Information obtained and redacted partly by TheDoctorMedic.com reveal that, in an inner report, the pilot described the circumstances “as visibility was unclear by NVG (night time imaginative and prescient goggles) with no moon, calm ocean. I noticed we had descended from 150 ft to 75 ft — made management corrections. I regarded again in, felt a thump and spray beneath chin bubble. Apparent contact with water.”
The report was written Oct. 7, greater than per week after the incident.
