Details released of CareFlite crash
A report recently posted to the CONCERN Network (www.concern-network.org) has revealed further details about the crash of a medical helicopter on 30 September that was being operated by CareFlite of Grand Prairie, Texas, US. All three crew members onboard N144CF, an A109 E helicopter, suffered minor to moderate injuries in the incident.
A report recently posted to the CONCERN Network (www.concern-network.org) has revealed further details about the crash of a medical helicopter on 30 September that was being operated by CareFlite of Grand Prairie, Texas, US (https://www.airmedandrescue.com/latest/news/three-injured-careflite-heli-crash). All three crew members onboard N144CF, an A109 E helicopter, suffered minor to moderate injuries in the incident.
In the report, David Carr, director of risk management and safety for CareFlite, states that the pilot encountered marginal visual meteorological conditions during the positioning flight and contacted air traffic control in order to open an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan. Encountering instrument meteorological conditions, the pilot transitioned to IFR flight and initiated a climb to above minimum safe altitude.
The report continues: “While on extended downwind for the GPS 35 approach to Eastland Municipal Airport, Eastland [Texas], controlled flight was lost. The aircraft struck the ground tail first, 4.4 miles [7.1 km] south of [the] airport, sliding approximately 500 ft [150 m] before rolling over and coming to a stop.”
The flight nurse was able to exit the aircraft, said Carr, and two civilians who saw the wreckage helped to extricate the other two crew members and move them to a safe location. Soon after fire department personnel arrived to disable the running engines, secure the scene and transport the crew to Eastland hospital.
Image: library image of a CareFlite A109 (CareFlite)