MedJets Air Ambulance Crashes in Panama City Airport | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-04.21.25

Airborne-NextGen-04.22.25

AirborneUnlimited-04.23.25

Airborne-FltTraining-04.24.25

AirborneUnlimited-04.25.25

Sun, Jul 04, 2004

MedJets Air Ambulance Crashes in Panama City Airport

Six aboard, one on ground die, witnesses report explosion and ball of fire during takeoff

An 1979 model IAI-1124 Westwind jet registered to MedJets (Air Ambulance by Air Trek, Inc., photo from MedJets' web site) crashed into an airport hangar at Tocumen International Airport at Panama City airport in Panama during takeoff Friday and burst into flames, killing seven people. The dead include four crew members from MedJets, two passengers and one person on the ground.

The crewmembers have been identified by Panamanian sources as Hayward Daisey, Monts Morrow, Steven Girold and Barry Scott White. The two other pax on the aircraft were Italian nationals and were identified as Alessia Mareati and Paola Di Gregori. A courier for the Panamanian company Girag Air Cargo, identified as Santiago Velazquez, was killed when he was hit by the aircraft after it had crashed. It was not clear at press time which one of the passengers was the patient that was being ferried.

The aircraft was on a medical ferry mission, taking a patient from Quito, Peru to Ecuador and on to Washington (DC). It had made a stop in Panama City to refuel and was to continue its mission. Witnesses reported that they heard an explosion and saw a ball of fire and smoke as the aircraft was taking off, after which the aircraft crashed into one of the hangars at the airport.

"All those aboard were killed," said Humberto Chavarria, assistant director of Panama's Civil Aviation Authority. "The pilot lost control, veered off course and crashed."

A team of investigators from the US was expected to arrive yesterday to begin an analysis of the accident.

FMI: http://www.medjets.com/index.htm, http://www.aeronautica.gob.pa/aeropuertos/tocumen.htm (Tocumen Airport web site, Spanish)

Advertisement

More News

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (04.24.25)

"This enables all parts of the digital portfolio to focus on their strengths. Our commitment to meeting our customers' needs is unwavering as we move forward with our core products>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.24.25)

Aero Linx: National Aeronca Association We are dedicated to supporting the design and preserving the history of Aeronca aircraft. Founded by Jim Thompson and fostered by his leader>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Cessna 180

Pilot’s Failure To Maintain Clearance From The Water During A Low Pass Over A Lake Analysis: The pilot reported that he descended to make a low pass over Pettit Lake. He note>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (04.24.25): Downburst

Downburst A strong downdraft which induces an outburst of damaging winds on or near the ground. Damaging winds, either straight or curved, are highly PCG D−3 Pilot/Controller>[...]

Airborne-Flight Training 04.24.25: GA Refocused, Seminole/Epic, WestJet v TFWP

Also: Cal Poly Aviation Club, $$un Country, Arkansas Aviation Academy, Teamsters Local 2118 In response to two recent general aviation accidents that made national headlines, more >[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC