Three Killed -- Official Says Dispatchers Broke Procedure
The investigation
continues into last Wednesday's crash of a Messerschmitt-Boelkow
Blohm Bo-105S helicopter that was on a medical mission in the
Florida Panhandle. All three people on board were killed. As tragic
as the accident was, the events surrounding it have raised
procedural questions in Florida's Walton County. The aircraft
was missing for five hours before anyone noticed.
The pilot, 63-year old Tom Palcic, had 27-years experience in
aviation. He, a flight nurse and another crew member had just
departed Santa Rosa Beach (FL) for DeFuniak Springs (FL) where they
were to pick up a critically ill heart patient. Shortly after
take-off at around 0100 local, Palcic radioed Walton County
emergency dispatchers, saying he was turning back according to
Walton County Emergency Operations Director Ed Baltzley. The
weather was bad, with thunderstorms in the vicinity.
That's where things in the dispatch center went wrong, Baltzley
said. When Palcic didn't call in to the county emergency operations
center upon landing, dispatchers were supposed to contact them.
That, said Baltzley, didn't happen. And so the accident went
unnoticed and unreported until 0600. That's when the AirHEART
helicopter's relief crew showed up at the airport, only to find the
hangar was empty.
Would quicker notification have saved Palcic and his crew?
Probably not, according to Walton County Sheriff's Captain Stan
Sunday. The trauma they suffered on impact was to severe, he
said.
The helicopter wreckage was found in nearby Choctawhatchee Bay
later that day. It's now been removed from the bay and taken to a
warehouse in Destin (FL), where it was to be examined by
investigators with the NTSB.
FAA Preliminary Accident Report
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 916SH Make/Model: BO10
Description: MESSERSCHMITT-BOELKOW BLOHM BO-105S
Date: 10/20/2004 Time: 0545
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury:
Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Substantial
LOCATION
City: FORT WALTON BEACH State:
FL Country: US
DESCRIPTION
N916SH, MESSERSCHMITT BO-105S ROTORCRAFT CRASHED UNDER
UNKNOWN
CIRCUMSTANCES, THE THREE PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY
INJURED, ACFT WAS A
SUBJECT OF AN ALERT NOTICE, WRECKAGE LOCATED IN THE
CHOCTAWATCHEE BAY, FORT
WALTON BEACH, FL
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 3
# Crew:
3 Fat: 3 Ser: 0
Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass:
0 Fat: 0 Ser:
0 Min: 0 Unk:
#
Grnd: Fat: 0
Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
WEATHER:
UNK
OTHER DATA
Activity: Air Ambulance Phase:
Unknown Operation: Air Taxi (On Demand)
Departed: SANTA ROSA BEACH, FL Dep Date:
10/20/2004 Dep. Time:
Destination: DEFUNAK, FL
Flt Plan: NONE Wx Briefing: U
Last Radio Cont: NONE
Last Clearance: NONE
FAA FSDO: BIRMINGHAM, AL
(SO09) Entry date:
10/21/2004
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