Damaged LifeFlight helicopter being repaired

The helicopter had been sent to East Machias early Monday morning to pick up a patient who had been injured in a motor vehicle crash in Whiting. The ambulance was approaching the landed helicopter, which had been shut down, when it struck the rotor blade. Another helicopter was dispatched for the patient and the damaged one remained grounded. No one was injured when the ambulance crashed into the helicopter.

Thomas Judge, Executive Director of LifeFlight of Maine, said LifeFlight’s plan was to go back to East Machias with a new rotor blade, to replace the damaged one. LifeFlight could then potentially return the helicopter to service late on 20 October.

Judge said LifeFlight rotates aircraft in and out of service on a regular basis, and always has a backup helicopter in case one of the other three it uses is taken out of service.

Recently, AirMed&Rescue spoke about challenges to FAA regulations that have previously allowed helicopters to slip through without meeting safety standards to aid crash survivability.