The reason behind the medical air transportation crash of 2019 has been revealed by the National Transportation Safety Board recently. The crash that occurred in Brainerd had snuffed the lives of the pilot as well as a flight nurse and had left a flight paramedic with serious injuries. It has now been revealed that there was no mechanical failure behind the mishap. Spatial disorientation suffered by the pilot due to poor visibility caused by fog has been cited as the main reason for the medical air transportation disaster. The helicopter belonged to North Memorial Health. It was an Augusta chopper.
The Survivor of the Medical Air Transportation Crash Shares Experience
The flight paramedic, Josh Duda, had taken the front seat to the left when the accident occurred. He revealed that the runway lights, although visible, were under a layer of fog, impairing the ability of the pilot to view the runway. He recalled the pilot mentioning that the visibility was not great and that they had to go around and attempt landing the medical air transportation chopper again. The pilot had mentioned a missed approach right before the chopper had lost control reported Josh who is from Pillager, Minnesota.
Investigation Sheds Light into the Crash
The investigation had revealed that the medical air transportation had a vertical descent. The assessment was strengthened by the damage to the vehicle, which was quite apparent. Moreover, there were arc-shaped marks on the ground consistent with rotor blades grazing the surface pretty hard. Although there was a spillage of fuel due to the crash, there was no fire. One of the rotor blades was found about 200 feet away from the crashed helicopter. The marks left by the blades were about 7 inches in depth.
After the crash, North Memorial Health had changed the minimum acceptable weather conditions for medical air transportation, wherein visibility of 400 feet above the ground and 1 mile on the ground was made mandatory.
