Medical Helicopter Crashes into the Gulf of Mexico!! The Story of Lee County Medstar N911LZ (9)

[@TheDrMedic]

So happy that all three of these folks survived. I truly appreciate you folks taking the time to watch this video. If you thought it was good please like and subscribe and even feel free to hit that “thanks” button so we can keep this channel going and make it grow. If you have a story or incident you’d like me to review please let me know in the comments below! Cheers!👊🤙🙏💙

[@Aint_no_senators_son]

The videos are great. I have watched several of them in the past few days. One thing I saw is where a pilot said the crew shouldn't make flying decisions. If it was my butt on the line when he screwed up I'd be making the decision. Or he would be the next one needing an air ambulance. Crazy stuff.

[@WorldTravelA320]

Great videos, however you made one mistake. Part 135 operations are indeed NON scheduled commercial flights, and include EMS flights, business jets, training schools, charters, etc, etc. However, all major airlines operate under part 121, as their flights are SCHEDULED.

[@flightmedic7634]

As a fellow flight crew member I highly appreciate your content. There is almost no quality content when it comes to HEMS accidents on KZbin. The best way to learn from our mistakes is to never forget and apply lessons. Your content provides videos that can be used as monthly education topics for crews. Great Job 👍, keep the content coming!

[@TheDrMedic]

Thank you! Hopefully more to come! 🤙

[@kennethdascher7804]

Please produce videos for all Medical Helicopter Accidents. We need a complete body of knowledge to reference for safety training! Thanks for your hard work and dedication to our industry!

[@TheDrMedic]

I’m on it 😉

[@jasonausman]

Great video! You definitely did your homework, and I think I even learned a few things. I was one of the paramedics on board MEDSTAR the night of the crash. I had always wanted to make a video and recreate the crash using Flight Simulator. It was a sad story and an even worse outcome at the end for those of us that lived it.

[@TheDrMedic]

Hi Jason! The best part of the story is that you and your crew are still here to talk about it! Would love to chat with you some time about your experience. Feel free to send me an email or hit me up via DM on FB or IG. Stay safe!

[@arnoldmcallister4983]

So many things wrong with the analysis of this accident I could not do a critique in the comments section and be both clear and concise. PM me if you would like information.

[@davidduncan1965]

Miss you my friend.

[@rapman5363]

@@arnoldmcallister4983 you are so correct. The analysis is troublesome.

[@davidduncan1965]

I enjoyed the video and learned quite a bit that I hadn’t previously known. Some of your information isn’t accurate though. Not so much related to the accident itself but rather inferences or assumptions. Like Jason Ausman, I was the other Paramedic on the helicopter that night. Your description of the helicopter softly and gently flying into the water would have been awesome had it been true. Perhaps myself and the pilot wouldn’t be fully and permanently disabled. Since the accident, the press and the FAA have been describing our injuries as minor or as basic sprains. Having undergone 5 surgeries myself and I know the pilot has undergone many herself, there was nothing soft or gentle about the landing. The statement that after 10 minutes the fire department called dispatch to ask where we were, then someone reported hearing an aircraft fly into the water, the fire department picked us up and we were flown to the hospital, none of that is accurate. I have the dispatch tapes where there is an 18 minute period before anyone realizes we are missing and we were picked up by a boat borrowed by the fire department and driven to a marina and transported by ground to the hospital. It was 44 minutes from calling a minute out to our retrieval. I was the paramedic who “couldn’t see shit out my window” and I also commented on the water on my window. I didn’t see the water on my window and knew it was a clear night so it must have been rotor wash. I only saw the rotor wash when the pilot turned on the spotlight and then we immediately impacted the water. It was in hindsight that I recognized that what I saw was rotor wash. The information in the FAA report makes it sound like I saw the rotor wash and knew we were close to the water but kept that information to myself. The Paramedic who was fired in 2007 and claims it was because she reported billing irregularities may believe that and that may help her sleep better at night. To keep my self out of a lawsuit, I will just say that I have found that people make all sorts of accusations in lawsuits. At the time and in hindsight, I don’t believe that there was a toxic environment at MEDSTAR before the crash. I do believe that changed dramatically afterwards. I do appreciate your video though. I think we all knew exactly what happened that night but didn’t know why and this sheds a lot of light on that. David Duncan

[@Starfish2145]

David, major bummer. I hope you’re doing ok now

[@davidduncan1965]

@@Starfish2145 thank you. Stay safe!

[@danielyarnell1762]

Women should not be pilots

[@seano7971]

as you stated... radar altimeter being set before take off is incorrect. Altimeters are set to PA prior to take off, radar altimeters are not and read actual AGL. The autopilot ALT works off PA set altimeter, the HTAWS responds to Radar altimeter. Proper scan to the radar altimeter would have prevented this as it shows AGL always. In ALT mode with a low power setting the heli will slow down to maintain alt. It will continue to slow until the auto pilot disengages. ALT will also be amber. Amber alt will also show if there is any manual manipulation of cyclic.

[@AviationNut]

It's crazy that one of the paramedics noticed the water on the windows and realized that it was from the rotor wash meaning they're very low over the water, but the pilot who is trained to notice things like that didn't react to seeing the water droplets from the rotor wash.

[@TheDrMedic]

What a great point. I had not considered that the wash actually trails the aircraft!

[@razablanco3766]

Women drivers, am I right?

[@MQTmxguy]

Scheduled commercial air carriers operate under part 121, but yes most air ambulance operate under part 135

[@debrahunter8343]

Justin, one of the best training videos, I have seen: excellent work! Having worked with several ER level 2 Trauma Center helicopter medical response teams,as both an RN and APRN, This information is invaluable.

[@TheDrMedic]

Hey there! Thanks for the feedback and thanks for watching! Miss ya! 🤙🤟

[@Delatta1961]

There’s still something to be said about having a good cross check. It goes to show that no matter how much experience you have, everyone makes mistakes. Own up, and learn. Great job summarizing the incident

[@billymccullers7328]

All major airlines operate under a FAR Part 121 Certificate, a Part 135 Certificate applies to non-scheduled air carrier operations, which would apply to HEMS operations… just for clarification…

[@brianruhlman1000]

Great story appreciate the lessons learned. Unaided flight at night time over water on a VFR flight plan to an unimproved LZ- that is one brave flight crew, thank god everyone survived.

[@TealOxAdv]

Interesting that it took this incident for them to require PFDs. The program I was with is just a little north of them in Tampa and we wore them on every flight. We did take off over water, but they also routinely fly over water as well.

[@SkyBaum]

Freaking Florida 🙃 Wonderful analysis. My former FD in Central Florida gave up their Firestar helicopter 🚁 medevac program around 2010. The chief at the time said it was because of financial reasons & also that helicopters were dangerous. Certainly no one shed a tear when he retired two years later.

[@ChadDidNothingWrong]

When the boss treats everyone like children. Sounds like he was scared of helicopters, therefore they must be banned.

[@ZGryphon]

Well, I mean, he wasn't _wrong_ exactly, but...

[@SkyBaum]

@@ZGryphon it was short-sighted! Air Methods took over MedEvac services & now they have 5 bases in the region.

[@gavnonadoroge3092]

@@SkyBaum and how many helicopter incidents happened in that region?

[@SkyBaum]

@@gavnonadoroge3092 none MedEvac related.

[@Aint_no_senators_son]

I can't believe how many crashes there are. Good grief. You'd be better off strapped to a tow truck and hauled to the hospital. 😂😂

[@matthewbarton1356]

Airwolf :) Nothing better looking than a classic Bell helicopter.

[@46bovine]

Having been to Sanibel and Captiva Islands, there is highway access to both islands. The fixed wing part 135 operator that I worked for flew single pilot aircraft C-310, C-402, BE-100, &200 but always assigned two pilots to every flight. Yes, it was more costly for the company but we never had an accident. Perhaps the HEMS should take note.

[@TheDrMedic]

Hi there, @Bob! Yes, there is a bridge to Sanibel Island and then another to Captiva Island. But there is not a bridge to North Captiva Island, which is where this accident took place.

[@rhondageorge9186]

Don't know where your located, and I find your content very interesting. I'm NOT a medical person nor do I work in the HEMS industry. I just have a love of helicopters medical or otherwise. Here in the Pacific Northwest we have Airlift Northwest which I believe is run by Air methods. We've had a couple incidents over the years. Would love to see coverage from our neck of the woods.

[@TheDrMedic]

Hi there @rhondageorge9186 and thanks for watching 😬 I will take a look at this story for sure! 🤙

[@bellboy4074]

You get things mostly right but pilots and aircraft don't "get a part 135 certificate". They get added to one.

[@TheDrMedic]

HI @bellboy407 Thanks for pointing that out. For clarification, while the airman doesn't technically hold the certificate, they do have to meet the Part 135 requirements for both initial and recurrent training, which in this case, some of the pilots did not. But I understand I think I said they hold their own certificate and you are correct that they have to have the proper training and then get added to the actual 135 cert. Cheers, my friend!

[@TheBeingReal]

You would think that heli would have emergency floats flying over water frequently.

[@macmedic892]

I work in the Gulf of Mexico oil industry and that was one of the first things I noticed missing on the helo.

[@avgeek-and-fashion]

Avid avgeek here (obv by my nick, right?) and I never knew I needed to know what you're sharing! Amazing content, I'm binging your channel right now, you will def see more from me in the comments! 🙂

[@terrencejackson4587]

Elephant in the room….. yeah, pilot error! Remarks complete(ish).

[@Starfish2145]

According to the paramedic in this thread, the injuries were not “mild” they had multiple surgeries and several of them are disabled.

[@TheDrMedic]

This is true. NTSB grossly misleading on this topic,,,,,same for many other accidents with survivors.

[@k53847]

This seems totally screwed up. How does an autopilot that allows the aircraft to descend below the set level without providing effective warnings get certified? How come recorders on a helo used over water did not stand up to shallow salt water immersion? GPWS isn't subtle, how did they miss the alarms? What kind of FDR allows one flight to fill up the entire memory and not run a circular buffer? What kind of maintenance organization doesn't understand how to properly maintain the helo? How did the pilot and crew not see the water given the anti-collision strobe on the bottom needs to be running?

[@bellboy4074]

It gave a warning. Pilot ignored it.

[@gavnonadoroge3092]

@k53847 its very troubling that these things were certified. looks like certification process of equipment needs to be audited, or something

[@mbail64]

Great video. Love those Birds . I used to think BK 117 were the best but these birds Change my mind. Check put local okc video from today with Air one dropping lots of water on fires in the area

[@mbail64]

Are you OK from our weather Wednesday night

[@willardsmith4383]

Another awesome video. Keep them comin. Im hooked already and cant wait to watch this channel grow.

[@TheDrMedic]

Much appreciated, sir 👊

[@cowboy6591]

Turning on her front spot light earlier would have solved it.

[@TheDrMedic]

Yes, this also would have helped!

[@anthonyxuereb792]

It's a pity there wasn't logic system on board that said "I'm told to hold altitude at 500 feet and they want me to push on yet I don't have the power to do both so I'll hold station (hover) until I get another instruction after I give them an audible and visual alert."

[@427SuperSnake1]

Should have turned some sort of light on once she got over water and the light of the mainland were behind it. She could have used the landing lights if she did not want to use the spot light.

[@jameshateley9963]

The PIC failed to keep situational awareness. Occupied with automated systems, PIC lost attention to 1st priority to aviate(fly the a/c) first and secondly navigate then lastly communicate. PIC got priority’s in reverse. TARBUSH

[@yzaw4411]

Lack of training Lack of training I can point out five serious mistakes taken from lack of training PERIOD

[@davidorth4906]

Omfg. Only doctors can decide what the helicopter experienced/Emergency? It's medical malpractice. Emergency??? Only the financial department of the hospital should decide...Not the Pilot.

[@CAPEjkg]

Are alot of EMS pilots that complacent or just have that little training? Not saying all , just hear of a bunch of EMS helicopter crashes .

[@grahamkeates1496]

I cannot understand why the pilot descended from 1000' down to 500' over water where there was so little external reference. Would have been better to maintain 1000' until over the landing zone and completed a descent over the island with better visual reference.

[@geddon436]

I used to want to be help pilot. The more vifeos I watch, i feel partially relieved I never did

[@jban642]

Airlines work under FAR part 121 not 135. 135 is charter operations (non regular scheduled.)

[@TheDrMedic]

Yes, copy that. Was just making reference to paying customers vs non paying. But, yes, you are absolutely correct.

[@jban642]

@@TheDrMedic Great content, as a medic and pilot this is great. Keep up the good work.

[@mrsmith1339]

I am a Lee County resident since 2002. Lee County certainly burned through a lot of tax payer money during this fiasco. There is the story of a fire victim being "life flighted" 125 miles to a Tampa burn unit, where thye cut his clothes off. examined him and released him. Dude where are my clothes? Trashed. Have some old scrubs. Where am I? Tampa. Maybe you can call Uber. No info on if he was billed or not.

[@davidduncan1965]

You heard a story? Please!

[@TheDrMedic]

There are many “stories” like this - in every agency - everywhere across the world. They are simply that - stories. The truth with the “story” you mentioned lies with the patient care report which undoubtedly tells a different story and one that probably more accurately reflects reality. Flight crews have to make quick decisions and quick assessments, oftentimes in the presence of a high-acuity sick patient. Also, their presence in the first place is usually determined by ground EMS crews who call them in the first place. There are many factors in calls like this. But you can never know the full story without the actual patient care report and/or some official investigatory report.

[@terencenxumalo1159]

good work

[@RetroHeartDad]

Lee County disbanded Medstar as a result of this... they are now LeeFlight a contracted service provided by Air Methods.

[@danmurphy1742]

Great presentation. However the repetitive background music is very annoying and adds nothing.

[@ZGryphon]

Wow. A PCMCIA card. In 2009. I just... not even CompactFlash?

[@davidbaldwin1591]

That bunch was more sketchy than a charcoal pencil.

[@davidduncan1965]

Meaning?

[@davidbaldwin1591]

@@davidduncan1965 From the local public officials right down to the accident pilot, there were some people who continued doing things that they shouldn't do, assuming things that were causing harm. This undermined the whole program, from the FAA down. Sketchy means, no clear picture of what is going on, and a charcoal pencil is used to make sketches.

[@BLACKSTARR2006]

She was simply inadequate and never had her spot light on.

[@shimmer8289]

Curious the aviation industry re planes is said to have had a huge decline in aviation accidents from say 170s to late 1990s. I don't know if it is just that I am seeing helo accidents on this channal and I feel there are more. Does anyone know if this particular line of duty medivac is more prone to accident than commercial airlines?

[@TheDrMedic]

Yes it is certainly more prone to accidents than commercial aviation. There have been BIG improvements over the past ten years but there’s still much more we can be doing!

[@shimmer8289]

@@TheDrMedic agree 💯 I used to work in health and safety for workers. The area of work involving a speedy high stress response time involving patients places any individual in an already compromised position. Add other stressor and equipment issues the aviation industry needs to do 1000 percent more to ensure these valuable response workers don't end up deceased from a preventable injury. Like your content it's stellar.

[@davidduncan1965]

Commercial airplanes are flying from a known location to a known location. Our landing zones on the helicopter were set up by ground crews as close to the scene as possible. I couldn’t tell you the number of times we found cross wires on descent or the number of towers that were not lighted and not on our tower map. MedEvac is a totally different animal than commercial airlines. That being said, much more must be done to make the industry safer.

[@shimmer8289]

@@davidduncan1965 that is interesting info it takes a certain type personality to fly those medvacs salute to them all. 👍

[@andrewnajarian5994]

Maybe it’s just me, but that seems like a terrible autopilot system. If it couldn’t control the collective, why would it not sacrifice SOG to maintain altitude for safety? Why have a mode called “Altitude Hold” if it isn’t capable of holding an altitude?

[@lennymecca968]

Absolutely insane that everyone survived. Completely pilot error.

[@Starfish2145]

Why would you use auto pilot at night? Fly the helicopter by hand. Use your search lights below you before you try to land 🤦‍♀️

[@jamesa.7604]

Very Shady Operation. But glad all survived the crash!

[@P-J-W-777]

One of the main reasons why I believe med flights should always have PIC and SIC pilot onboard for all flights. Had there been a second pilot onboard this crash most likely wouldn’t have happened and is a big reason the Coast Guard always flies with 2 pilots.

[@WorldTravelA320]

Just a slight problem with that. Look at the size of what the Coast Guard operates, very few civilian companies use them. Instead they opt for smaller aircraft that are more sensitive with weight.

[@ChadDidNothingWrong]

That's gonna make things alot more expensive than they already are.

[@P-J-W-777]

@@WorldTravelA320 I realize that was only making an observation. A lot of these accidents could be prevented if there were a rule requiring 2 pilots though. CRM has prevented a lot of accidents from happening. We know that medivac are very busy and often times pushed by their operating companies to do things they really shouldn’t be doing.

[@P-J-W-777]

@@ChadDidNothingWrong I realize that as well but what’s more important crew/patient safety or money? I’d pick the people on board any day of the week.

[@TheLeftCollectiveTLC-sb9zf]

I’m having a heart attack and need a medvac. “That’s going to be $5,000+” never mind, I’ll just di e

[@FSEVENMAN]

This so called state of the art helicopter lacks the ability to overwrite or auto format it's SD card in the flight data recorder? The auto pilot lacks auto throttle? WTF? Lol

[@pieterpretorius1014]

a 4 axis autopilot would've helped, but Eurocopter didn't think it was needed. it was a design decision from the factory that contributed to the crash. spatial disorientation also seemed to play a role here. having a single pilot in a safety critical application is a really bad idea. the fdr could've used an sd card with a lot more capacity

[@yellowrose0910]

The Flight Data Recorder didn't have Overwrite Oldest Files option present in every dashcam. Nice. And buttons going dark to signify they're engaged is kinda bass-ackward. Not good Human Engineering. THE AUTOPILOT INTENTIONALLY CRASHED THE HELICOPTER WITHOUT ANY AUDIBLE WARNING THAT IT WAS UNABLE TO MAINTAIN ALTITUDE?! This hardware got *approved* by a Regulating Agency?! It is *Criminal* that this autopilot was not immediately decertified from flight status, and charges laid against the designing company and whoever marketed and sold it. Single-pilot operations, especially Commercial ones, are difficult enough, especially in helicopters. Non-aviation comms, such as "Contacting the Fire Department" should be detached from the Pilot and relegated to others in the crew. This could be serendipitous as Crew could get medical updates and coordinate care during these times as well.

[@cturdo]

...and the corrupt officials in charge got away with it.

[@pauldarryl317]

Cross-check cross-check cross-check.

[@Arykperry]

Sounds to me like the owners were in a financial squeeze and were trying to skirt the line to get by with the books and the employees kept getting in the way thus causing the owners to make up strange excuses on the fly….. no pun intended LOL

[@bellboy4074]

The county owned the aircraft.

[@jamesshort9507]

I didnt like the Boco-105, talk about no room for one that is 6-2'

[@TheDrMedic]

Interesting! I have a story coming up involving a 105 but have never seen one in person. I’m super impressed with the performance stats and pilots seem to love them. I’d be curious to know how the patient compartment stacks up against an EC135 or 145

[@arnoldmcallister4983]

So many things wrong with the analysis of this accident I can't critique it in the comments and be clear and concise. PM me if you would like to discuss it.

[@TheDrMedic]

KZbin does not have PMs. You may always send an email to [e-mail]

[@Boodieman72]

Controlled flight into terrain.

[@mayhempilot6158]

This was 100% pilot error. What does the other BS have to do with it? Nothing.

[@bellboy4074]

It's never that simple, bro.

[@TheDrMedic]

While many NTSB reports will say a probable cause was "pilot error," in reality, time and and research has told us that there are far more factors involved with what led up to the said 'pilot error.' Yes, it was pilot error. But what caused that error? In this case, it is possible that culture played a role, or spatial disorientation, or poor training, or a combination of all 3

[@davidduncan1965]

Wow. You’ve concluded with 100% certainty that it was pilot error without ever being there. You are truly amazing.

[@ryancase8858]

She was what was wrong with the helicopter

[@roger5350]

Shifty shifty industry lots of crashes over billing😂

[@billyray3761]

Pilot error. Culture had nothing to do with it.

[@BobBob-nr1zt]

background music isn't loud enough nor annoying enough

[@oscarpimentel3315]

Tô initial moment of video need tô be show images of accident, is to slow the vídeo and to much technical a lot details unnecessary tô simple persons , after It than can to show a long explanation and with full details for specific public.

[@razablanco3766]

The second i heard its a woman pilot especially over 40 i would quit

[@ingvenzeio487]

ｐｒｏｍｏｓｍ

[@roger5350]

That's helicopter business seems like it's pretty shifty lots of accidents in a short amount of time

[@southpawlibranine3511]

Looks like euro copters crash a lot