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EMS helicopters are among the most dangerous aircraft in the skies. While major airline crashes have declined over the past decade, EMS helicopter fatalities have increased. Until this year, the worst annual record belonged to 2004, with 18 killed. So far in 2008 there have been 20 deaths. Clearly, things are getting worse.
Sunday's crash brings the national death toll of EMS helicopter crashes in just the past five months to 17. On June 29 two EMS helicopters collided near Flagstaff, Ariz., killing six. A Bell 407 crash on June 8 in Huntsville, Tex., killed all four people aboard. On May 10, an EMS-operated Eurocopter EC 13 crashed at La Crosse, Wis., after dropping off a patient; the pilot, a surgeon and a nurse were killed. While this summer has been especially bad, these tragedies were anything but unforeseeable.
I fear that as the facts of this accident emerge, it will be revealed that the crash stemmed from ignoring lessons previously learned. Local authorities say that the helicopter lacked a terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS), something aviation experts have deemed crucial to flying safely in difficult conditions. The NTSB has stated that the pilot operating the helicopter was the sole pilot, which meant he had to work the radio while maneuvering the aircraft. He had tried twice to radio for help because of the severe fog that day. Such conditions -- a solo pilot flying a helicopter in inclement weather -- are some of the worst a pilot can face, yet EMS pilots are required to operate in them all the time.
Rather than answers, the Federal Aviation Administration offers excuses. A recent FAA news release stated that EMS "operations are unique due to the emergency nature of the mission." The agency needs to ask itself whether this "unique" situation justifies a fatal accident rate that is 6,000 times that of commercial airliners. In the face of this safety crisis, the FAA's response has been to "encourage risk management" and "promote [safety-enhancing] technology such as night vision goggles, terrain awareness and warning systems (TAWS) and radar altimeters."
This "encouragement" is noticeably lacking the vigor we've seen the FAA use recently to force major airlines to maintain acceptable safety standards. Rather than regulating an industry that has a demonstrated history of carrying out unsafe operations, the FAA seems content with offering a do-it-yourself program of oversight.
I have long subscribed to Thomas Jefferson's theory of governance: "The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government." Sadly, our government does not consistently endorse this philosophy, but, as Sunday's tragedy shows, instead allows a series of accidents to occur without any regulatory response.
This trend is unacceptable. Many of us working in aviation safety have long advocated requiring two pilots for EMS flights, night-vision goggles, and terrain awareness and warning systems. Rather than simply "encouraging" these crucial safety measures, the FAA must demand them. I hope these tragedies have not happened in vain. This year's deadly spell of EMS accidents should cause the FAA to realize just how grave a safety threat EMS operations pose to their crews and passengers.
The writer was chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board from 1994 through 2001. He is managing partner of Hall & Associates LLC, a crisis management and government relations firm.