OK. Since noone else seems to want to ask the questions, I s'pose I will.
1st, let me say, I only knew 1 member of the crew- Wade- he was a good guy when I worked with him some years ago. I assume his workmates were mostly of the same caliber. And I do, believe it or not have some sense of sorrow for those who have lost life or loved ones in this tragedy.

Now that that's out of the way, the questions and observations.
--It would seem to me, that there may be some equipment maintenance issues with this company. This is not their 1st incident. So; how extensive a maintenance program do they have? Is there a technician/mechanic on staff locally? Is this tech/mech properly schooled and such? I would like to think that all is "above board" on this- but I am always the skeptic- I s'pose I'll never know.
---It seemed that there was not any 'regional event' where they were not on display. I understand they are in effect a private company and that public relations is important for such an operation, but: Is this a diligent use of equipment and man-hours? I would think that time in the air would be considered a risk and an expence- Is it worth it to be seen and advertise? [As opposed to making a medically necessary 'run'].
---How are things working out as concerns the company's billing issues and the investigation being pursued by the fbi?
As I understand it, these inquiries involve primarily billing for runs that may not have been medically necessary. Insurance companies and medicaire are concerned that many flights could/should have been ground transports [which, of course, are less expensive], and the amounts billed are beyond what is reasonable and necessary for the situation at hand. I personally, assumed this would come about when the origional stories of this business moving here were publicized- I wonder how many local runs could be questioned in this fashion?
Again, I s'pose I'll never know.
Granted, sometimes these things simply "happen". Yet, I believe it is prudent to ask these questions, even [especially?] at a time such as this.

A properly maintained helicopter should not have a catastrophic failure of the main rotor. It's the most critical assembly, and calls for extra-special attention.

I'm glad they aren't taking off, landing, and flying over my house off and on all day long.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families, friends and coworkers of the 3 people who lost their lives. I know they served the people of this community and others with their whole hearts. They chose to put their lives in danger to help others.

My only comment is why has our local newspaper not printed anything except other news agencies' articles? I do not get the paper, just read online, so I might have missed it. You would think that since they were based out of Rushville, the paper might try to publish something on their own. I am sure there are many here in town that had gotten to know this flight crew. I have seen some interviews with people from Rushville, but not in our paper. Why is that? Are they trying to once again cover up something for the hospital? You would think they would at least run the obituaries for free!

Well, Jim, that's kinda what I thought. Yet, I know 'diddly-squat' about helicopters specifically/technically.
In further search and reading, it seems this company has had more than one accident [3?] due to rotor detachment. One in arizona? and one in alabama? Then one in/near evansville [in] due to altimeter/pilot error, and one in/near washington dc, unknown &/or pilot error. It seems, most all medical chopper crashes in this country over the last 5 years or so, belonged to this company.
Kinda leads me to believe that to them the money is SO important that service and safety take a far back seat.

I think we'd all be better served in this conversation if we waited until the NTSB (the people with all the facts about this crash) give their report on what happened. It does little good to speculate about what might have happened, what should have happened, what could have happened... Get the facts about the crash and then it can be discussed intelligently without throwing in one's personal opinions on whether or not Air Evac should be operating in this county.

According to the press [tv and print], the faa and ntsb have already stated that the cause was rotor detachment. As for the other events I mentioned, they are already logged into the faa and ntsb data-bases.
I was not questioning the company operating in good ol' rushville so much as I was questioning their business and maintenance practices nation-wide!
I suspect the company [not individual employees!] to be unethical, unscrupulous, and careless in their want for profit. This, at the expense of sick and injured folks, and apparently even their employees.

Well, rotor detachment is kind of a vague description for what actually happened. I mean, I know it means the rotors came off, but it doesn't tell us why the rotors came off. To automatically assume that it was due to a failure on the part of Air Evac is premature in my book. I have heard this was a new helicopter so a manufacturing defect is possible. I just think in a situation where people have died, it's best to know the whole truth before speculating.

Also, before I made any assumptions about whether or not this helicopter service is more or less dangerous than other air ambulance services, I would first want to know how many flights they take per year compared to other air ambulance services.

I just prefer to have all of the facts before I make derogatory statements about a company and or it's employees.

Well, mom, you seem to have missed my point.
I am not forthrightly making derogatory comments.
I am asking questions, based on information documented elswhere, which I refer to in order to justify the asking of the question itself.
Does that make sense???

Does anyone know why Rushville isn't holding the memorial service? I don't understand why it is being held in Shelbyville when they are based here in town. From what I have gathered from other newspapers (Connersville, Cambridge City, and Indianapolis Star) none of the crash victims were from Shelby County. I would think that many in our community would love to pay their respects at the memorial service, but some may not want or can not drive to Shelbyville.
I also am peeved at our local paper for not running any type of obituary on these three brave individuals. They were here to help save lives and have left numerous family members behind including small children. I know there has been a fund established for Wades Children, but I am not sure about the anyone else. It's sad that many will not know that unless they go searching on the internet or actually know the family personally.

quote:

Originally posted by Uncle Salty:
Well, mom, you seem to have missed my point.
I am not forthrightly making derogatory comments.
I am asking questions, based on information documented elswhere, which I refer to in order to justify the asking of the question itself.
Does that make sense???

I don't think I missed your point. You said, "I suspect the company [not individual employees!] to be unethical, unscrupulous, and careless in their want for profit. This, at the expense of sick and injured folks, and apparently even their employees."

I believe that is "forthrightly making a derogatory comment." And such comments are inappropriate at this point in time. Not only are the people involved in mourning for their co-workers and friends, but I think it would be wise to wait until we have the actual report before jumping on the "slam Air Evac" bandwagon.

quote:

Originally posted by A. Fitch:
Does anyone know why Rushville isn't holding the memorial service? I don't understand why it is being held in Shelbyville when they are based here in town. From what I have gathered from other newspapers (Connersville, Cambridge City, and Indianapolis Star) none of the crash victims were from Shelby County. I would think that many in our community would love to pay their respects at the memorial service, but some may not want or can not drive to Shelbyville.
I also am peeved at our local paper for not running any type of obituary on these three brave individuals. They were here to help save lives and have left numerous family members behind including small children. I know there has been a fund established for Wades Children, but I am not sure about the anyone else. It's sad that many will not know that unless they go searching on the internet or actually know the family personally.

According to today's paper, there WILL be a memorial service for the victims of this accident held on September 15th. I would imagine no memorial service was held this week because this is the week their families are holding their services and most Rush County people are respectfully attending those services.

As for why they are having a memorial service in Shelbyville, could it be that those employees of Air Evac served Shelbyville and Shelby County also. I am sure they worked with and made friends with folks in hospitals all over the state....

I wondered the same thing mom. But in thinking back and asking around, it seems that shelby county did not much use this service. they tend to use the lifeline services out of indy, and even moreso ground services [being so close to indy, they can often get to indy by ground in the time it takes to arrange a flight run, in many cases].
On the other hand you are right, in that ems folks do tend to get around a lot, and seem to have friends and aquaintances most everywhere they go. They are an incredably friendly and social bunch.

There is something more to why it is not being held in Rushville. Merv announced on Tuesday night that it was being held in the RCHS Gym and they were expecting 1,000 people. Two days later it is moved. One rumor on the street is that our gym is not air conditioned. Well first, that should have been known early on, and second the high temperature is supposed to be 78 degrees with low humidity. Seems like air should not be an issue.

As far as being from or serving shelbyville, my understanding is the Nurse has recently transferred up from Paoli, so she would not have ties to Sville. The pilot was a recent addition to Rville from Michigan and the EMT was from Cambridge City. So I do not think they had a special connection to Sville.

Very interesting.

Given, rushboy.
I've been working healthcare in shelby county for a few years, and never run across any of these good people there.
I only knew Wade from having been so unfortunate as to have worked under d. brandon at fatal memorial in c-ville.
curious matters, but inconsequential to the real questions at hand....