It was only recently that we reported a crash that took place in Alaska; this time around the medical flight crash occurred in Minnesota. The crew was flying an Agusta Westland A109 chopper at the time. The pilot and the flight nurse lost their lives in the crash. One of the crew members survived and is now being treated for injuries. The medical condition of the surviving member has not been revealed yet. The medical flight, at the time, was carrying no patients. The nurse who lost her life had been a part of the air ambulance industry for over 15 years and had been an emergency nurse for over 3 decades. She is survived by a daughter.
The Weather Conditions Might have Caused the Medical Flight Crash
Preliminary reports reveal that, on Friday, the day of the crash, the weather conditions were not entirely favourable for a medical flight. The weather was foggy and the visibility was reduced to less than a quarter of a mile. It was about 1 am in the night. The exact factors that led to the crash are not yet known. Agencies such as Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are currently investigating the crash. While the preliminary summary of the crash may come out soon, it will take quite some time before the entire report is made public. This is nothing out of the ordinary as medical flight crash investigations usually tend to take some time.
A109 Helicopters have Seen a Fair Share of Crashes
FAA has seen about 46 crashes involving A109 choppers since 1987. Although the crashes have not been attributed to any design flaw as such, some of them have been attributed to pilot errors. A total of 48 people have lost their lives owing to these crashes. It must also be noted, in this context, that not all of these were medical flight choppers.
