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The EMS Helicopter Industry’s Business Model Leads to Unnecessary Crashes
Emergency Medical Services helicopters don’t get paid for being on call. They earn money only when transporting patients. But, when they do transport a patient, they are paid well — up to $20,000 per...
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EMS Helicopter – Airplane Mid-Air at Shenandoah Valley Airport
The EMS helicopter was returning to Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport in Virginia, having dropped off a patient in nearby Charlottesville. Reports differ on whether the Cessna was departing the...
View Article“Golden Hour” and Other Myths from the EMS Helicopter Industry
Why does the public accept the EMS helicopter industry’s horrible safety record? Because the industry has sold the idea that it’s critical to deliver trauma victims to a hospital within the first...
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Helicopter Crash Lawyers Bribe Judge, Settle Case, Get Sued
EMS helicopter crash cases aren’t easy. A lawyer representing a victim’s family ought to have experience in helicopter crash cases. If he doesn’t, he should bring into the case a lawyer who does....
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Legal System Treats Passengers Differently From Crew
When an EMS helicopter goes down, our legal system treats the family members of the passengers lost in the accident quite a bit differently from the families of the crew. For example, while the family...
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Office of Special Counsel Warns of Gross Mismanagement at the FAA
In 2008, a safety inspector determined that nearly half of the nation’s EMS helicopter fleet–about 300 aircraft–have improperly installed night vision systems. As installed, the systems are a hazard to...
View ArticleEMS Night Vision Goggles: FAA Incompetence Exposed
Stephen Stock, an investigative reporter for NBC, talks about the hazards posed by night vision goggles improperly installed in much of the nation’s EMS helicopter fleet. I was happy to offer Stock my...
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HEMS Operator Drops Pretense That It’s All About Speed
The air ambulance industry has a poor safety record. Most of the industry crashes involve EMS helicopters rather than airplanes. The EMS helicopter fatal accident rate is 6000 times that of...
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EMS Industry Leader Commits to Retrofitting Helicopter Fleet with Crashworthy...
Earlier this summer, the NTSB asked the FAA to require helicopter manufactures to equip all new aircraft with crashworthy fuel systems. If history is any guide, we can expect the FAA to ignore that...
View ArticleParamedic’s Family Out of Court in Skylife HEMS Crash
The NTSB hasn’t yet issued its report on the fatal Skylife air ambulance crash in December 2015. But a Fresno judge has ruled that regardless of the cause, the family of one of the paramedics on board...
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