Pilot Still Critical

When Deputy Charles Winn, 54, went down in a residential area of Rialto (CA) last Thursday, many heralded him as a hero, for making what many saw as a valiant effort to bring the crippled chopper down, away from lots of kids who were playing in harm's way. The last-moment maneuvers, his department said, caused the impact to be much worse, as the chopper landed on Winn's side; missing the kids, in other words, might have extracted a huge price on Winn. He suffered massive injuries, including trauma to his lungs, a broken pelvis and leg, and his most-serious: a broken back. He spent the weekend under sedation in the ICU at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton (CA).

When he wakes up, doctors hope to see what, if any, neurological damage might also have been sustained. Deputy Bryan Wellott, 38, who was training in the 'copter, is in fair and stable condition, and alert. The helicopter is at the San Bernardino International Airport, where the NTSB is taking particular interest in it.

In the meantime, the sheriff has grounded the other MD-600, until the cause of the initial trouble is pinpointed.

**   Report created 10/4/02   Record 1  **
IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 625SB        Make/Model: MD60      Description: MD-600N MCDONNELL DOUGLAS HELI
  Date: 10/03/2002     Time: 0022
  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Serious     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Substantial
LOCATION
  City: RIALTO   State: CA   Country: US
DESCRIPTION
  SAN BERNADINO COUNTY SHERIFF DEPT PUBLIC USE HELICOPTER CRASHED 1/2 MILE SOUTH OF THE AIRPORT IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA, THE ACFT HAS SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGES, 1 SOB SUSTAINED SERIOUS INJURY, 1 SOB SUSTAINED MINOR INJURY, OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES ARE UNKNOWN, RIALTO, CA
INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   0
                 # Crew:  1     Fat:   0     Ser:   1     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   1     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   1     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
WEATHER: METAR KONT 040053Z 23012KT 10SM CLR 23/10 Z2995 RMK A02 SLP134
OTHER DATA
  Activity: Business      Phase: Unknown      Operation: Public
  Departed: RIALTO, CA                  Dep Date: 10/03/2002   Dep. Time: 1720
  Destination: RIALTO, CA               Flt Plan: NONE         Wx Briefing: U
  Last Radio Cont: UNK
  Last Clearance: UNK
  FAA FSDO: RIVERSIDE, CA  (WP21)                 Entry date: 10/04/2002