Fired Medevac Pilot Files Whistleblower Complaint

A complaint filed with the Department of Transportation's Office of the Inspector General has sparked a Federal Aviation Administration investigation into the operation and maintenance of helicopters used by the Maryland State Police.

The complainant is former medevac pilot Pete Peterson, fired earlier this month for refusing to give up maintenance records he says prove safety concerns. State Police spokesman Greg Shipley admitted the FAA was investigating but declined further comment. FAA spokesman Jim Peters was also mum on the proceedings.

Maryland has the only statewide medevac system in the country, Annapolis' The Capital reported. Operating on a $20 million annual budget, the Maryland State Police Aviation Command owns 12 helicopters based in eight cities. Most flights conducted are for medevac missions.

Scrutiny of the state's helicopters operations began in September, when an audit criticized record keeping as insufficient and probed difficulties in retaining technical personnel, The Capital said. Further questions surfaced when later that month a fatal crash during a medevac flight in bad weather killed four of five persons on board.

The preliminary report on that crash, released by the National Transportation Safety Board earlier this month, sparked harsh criticism from Maryland government officials regarding the circumstances of the flight.

Next week a national panel is slated to begin investigation into criteria utilized by the State Police in assigning medevac missions. A study conducted by The Capital last March revealed that "about half of the patients transported by helicopter have non-life-threatening injuries, and are released within 24 hours."

Maryland Senators John Astle and E.J. Pipkin, openly critical of the state's helicopter operations, welcome the FAA's scrutiny. Astle, who is a former helicopter pilot, expressed confidence that the investigation brought on by Peterson's whistleblower report will yield answers to his questions.

"I got to believe it will," Astle said. "The state police needs some people that know something about aviation."

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.mspaviation.org