Cited Weather As A Factor In Turning Down The Business

Two air medical transport companies declined a flight last week before a helicopter belonging to a third company went down in southern Ohio, resulting in the fatal injury of the flight crew of three.

Television station WJW relays a report from The Columbus Dispatch which indicates that West Virginia-based HealthNet Aeromedical Services and Columbus-based MedFlight were contacted to conduct the patient transport flight last Tuesday morning, but both declined the business citing weather as a factor. A patient needed to be transported from a facility in Pomeroy, OH to a hospital in Columbus.

Survival Flight accepted the flight. The aircraft went down at about 7 a.m. last Tuesday morning in a state forest in Vinton County, OH.

Tom Allenstein, president and CEO of MedFlight told the paper that the weather conditions did not meet the minimums for his company to accept the flight. “Each helicopter ambulance service has their own protocols for making decisions about whether it is appropriate to fly under given conditions,” he said.

The weather at the time of the accident was reported to be overcast and snowing with winds from the west at 15 mph gusting to 21 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

(Ohio State Highway Patrol image)

FMI: Source report