2 companies refused emergency flight before fatal crash
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A newspaper reports two air-medical companies opted not to accept an assignment to transport a patient over concerns about the weather before a helicopter owned by a third medevac company crashed in southern Ohio, killing the pilot and two flight nurses.
The Columbus Dispatch reports West Virginia-based HealthNet Aeromedical Services and Columbus-based MedFlight were contacted Tuesday morning to transport a patient from a medical centre in Pomeroy to a Columbus hospital.
A Survival Flight helicopter crashed around 7 a.m. Tuesday in state forestland in Vinton County.
MedFlight’s president and CEO told the newspaper that conditions on Tuesday didn’t meet the company’s minimum standards to fly. HealthNet Aeromedical said atmospheric conditions fell below “published operational weather minimums.”
The crash killed pilot Jennifer Topper and nurses Bradley Haynes and Rachel Cunningham.
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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com
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