ON AUGUST 17 FIREGEEZER REPORTED ON A Lee County, Florida EMS helicopter that had crashed into the IntraCoastal Waterway that morning. You can review the posting HERE.

The preliminary report on the accident has been issued by the NTSB and for those of you who are interested we are posting it here.
NTSB Identification: ERA09LA464
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, August 17, 2009 in North Captiva Island , FL
Aircraft: EUROCOPTER DEUTSCHLAND GMBH EC-145, registration: N911LZ
Injuries: 3 Uninjured.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.
On August 17, 2009, at 0031 eastern daylight time, a Eurocopter EC-145, N911LZ, operated by the Lee County Division of Public Safety, as MedStar 1, was substantially damaged when it impacted water near North Captiva Island , Florida . The pilot and two medical crewmembers were not injured. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the flight that originated at Page Field Airport (FMY), Fort Myers , Florida . The positioning flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
According to the pilot, she received a call around midnight for a patient pickup on North Captiva Island . After departure from FMY, she flew west over the water, with the autopilot engaged (set on altitude hold), at an altitude of 1,000 feet. The helicopter remained at 1,000 feet to assure obstruction clearance (towers on Pine Island ). After passing over the towers, the pilot descended to 800 feet, using autopilot. At the same time, she was attempting to contact the Captiva Fire Department (FD) on the radio. The pilot reported she tried to call the FD 4 or 5 times with no response, and then contacted Lee County Dispatch to confirm which frequency the FD was using.
When the helicopter was approximately 3 minutes from landing, the pilot selected 500 feet using the autopilot and the helicopter initiated a descent to that altitude. She continued toward the airfield and made a final transmission to the FD that she was “one minute out.”
The pilot commented to the medical crew that she could see the FD moving fire trucks to the center of the landing zone (a grass airstrip). She stated she wasn’t concerned that she could not reach the FD since she was landing on an airfield, and was familiar with the obstructions in the landing zone. (more…)
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