Medstar chopper crashed in DC yesterday

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...053100399.html

Patient Dies After Helicopter Crash in NW D.C.

By Martin Weil and Del Quentin Wilber
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, May 31, 2006; 6:24 AM

A critically ill patient aboard a medical helicopter that crashed
yesterday near the Washington Hospital Center has died, a hospital
spokesman said this morning.

The patient was Steven Gaston, 51, said hospital spokesman LeRoy
Tillman. He and three crew members were on their way to the hospital
shortly before 5 p.m. when the chopper went down on the golf course on
the grounds of the U.S. Armed Forces Retirement Home on North Capitol
Street NW.

The cause was not immediately known.

Gaston had been in "extremely critical" condition when the helicopter
picked him up at Greater Southeast Community Hospital, according to a
Washington Hospital Center official and remained in critical condition
last night after surgery before dying at 11:30 p.m. It had not yet been
determined whether the patient died as a result of his injuries or
because of his previously grave condition or both.

Federal authorities said they will investigate why the chopper, flown
by a highly experienced pilot, plummeted from clear skies less than a
mile from its destination.

"I could see [the helicopter] laboring," said witness Jay Speights, who
was getting out of his car at the golf course parking lot. After
watching the helicopter circle and hearing its engine sputter, he said,
he saw it disappear behind a rise of ground and then heard "a large
metal object hitting cement."

Janis Orlowski, the hospital center's chief medical officer, said it
was the center's first crash in 40,000 helicopter transports going back
more than 20 years. It also appeared to be the first aviation accident
in the District in years. Three people were killed early last year when
a medical transport helicopter crashed in the Potomac River south of
the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. No cause of that crash has been made public.

The incident began to unfold at 4:39 p.m., when the hospital's medical
evacuation helicopter picked up the patient at Greater Southeast on
Southern Avenue in Southeast Washington. Details of his illness could
not be learned.

The patient's condition was "quite unstable" when he left Greater
Southeast, Orlowski said, and he needed a "tertiary level" of care.

With the patient on the blue-and-white helicopter as it headed north on
the seven-mile trip to the hospital center were a pilot, a flight
paramedic and a flight nurse.

Five minutes after the patient was picked up, the helicopter radioed a
Mayday, Orlowski said.

She said that she had "no idea" why the distress call was issued.
Maintenance records for the Eurocopter helicopter, built in 1998, were
described as being up-to-date.

After the crash, the helicopter came to a rest on its side, next to a
tree in the area of the eighth hole fairway. It appeared that as the
copter fell, it sheared off one or more tree branches. The rotor
separated from the fuselage, one witness said.

A small fire broke out. A top D.C. fire department official had been on
a flight in a U.S. Park Police helicopter. It flew to the scene, and
Assistant Fire Chief William Fitzgerald grabbed a fire extinguisher and
sprayed it on the flames.

Other rescuers flocked to the scene. In the wreckage they spotted a
flight helmet and a medical bag. The three injured crew members issued
instructions on how to care for the patient.

According to Alan Etter, a spokesman for the D.C. fire and emergency
services department, the crash had apparently dislodged the tube that
aided the patient's breathing. Etter said it was not clear whether the
man was still able to breathe.

Among the rescuers was Amit Wadhwa, the fire department's medical
officer, and he was able to replace the tube in the man's airways,
Etter said. By the time the patient was taken from the crash site to
the hospital center, he was breathing.

After he was brought to the center, it was determined that he "needed
to go to the operating room" on an emergency basis, Orlowski said.

Injuries to the crew members, whose names were also withheld last night
until family members could be notified, were described as fractures,
with some tissue damage as well. The patient and all crew members were
awake and conscious when brought into the hospital.

The pilot, 58, was listed in serious but stable condition with a
fracture. The flight nurse, 39, who has worked for the hospital center
for 10 years, was also listed in serious but stable condition. The
third crew member, the flight paramedic, 33, described as a new
employee of the center, suffered broken ribs and was also in serious
but stable condition.

All were transported to the hospital center within minutes of the
crash. Officials of the Federal Aviation Administration and the
National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.

Staff writers Fred Barbash and Paul Schwartzman contributed to this
report.