ambulances firegeezer on 13 Sep 2008 11:16 am
Ambulance Collides With Medivac Copter
A FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY, AMBULANCE WAS responding to the scene of a fatal auto accident Thursday night when it collided with a medivac helicopter that was on the ground for the same accident.
The original crash occurred when a Honda Accord carrying four adults and an infant swerved off the road and struck a parked street-sweeper truck. All four adults were killed, but the infant, who was 2 months old, survived unhurt.
A medical helicopter was dispatched from the Cooper University Hospital in Camden and landed near the accident scene. At the same time, the ambulance was coming onto the crash scene.
New Jersey State Police Sgt. Julian Castellanos said the roof of the ambulance struck the rear rotor of the helicopter, which was still running. “The pilot inspected the rotor, flew back to the hangar and fixed a few blades on the rotor,” he said.
State police said they were treating the incident as an accident and that no charges have been filed.
The Philadelphia Daily News has the STORY.
on 13 Sep 2008 at 3:47 pm 1.Fireboss said …
OK, what was the driver thinking of. I would really like to know how fast he was going in the approach to the scene. Rotors are pretty big items sitting in the middle of a roadway, pretty hard to miss.
on 14 Sep 2008 at 10:55 am 2.SAA said …
Safety-safety-safety! First- Someone needs to be responsible for guarding the helicopter and keeping it from being struck. Second- The incoming ambulance should have been coordinating response via radio with someone on scene and should have known there was a helicopter parked on the ground. Finally- Are you kidding me… someone flew the helicopter back to the hanger after a rotor blade was struck? The rotors should have been removed at the scene and the helicopter should have been trucked back to the hanger for inspection.
on 14 Sep 2008 at 11:55 pm 3.Fireboss said …
SAA you said it just right, SAFETY, SAFETY SAFETY!!!!!! I did not go into the detail you did but still WOW. If I remember correctly, aircraft could be flown if there was no on else but the pilot, but still >>>> I got issues with even that.
on 15 Sep 2008 at 1:25 am 4.njmedic said …
The driver was a female the captain of the squad. The ambulance struck the helicopter NJ Southstar while leaving the scence with a trauma code in the back. The Helicopter was shut down, however, the blades where still spinning slowley. The LZ was dark with no illumination and the helicopter was powered down. NJSP flew the helicopter from the scence several hours later after inspection by a mechanic, however, later discovered cracks in on of the blades and was forced to replace it. The blade was on the main rotor head no the tail roter