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LIFESTAR PROBE CONTINUES

By HOLLY PARKER Globe-News Staff Writer Web posted Tuesday, March 14, 2000 4:38 a.m. CT

New details emerged Monday as investigators wrapped up their on-scene probe of Friday's Lifestar helicopter crash that killed all four on board.

Jason Ragogna, lead investigator for the National Transportation and Safety Board, said crews removed debris from the crash site Monday and flew it to Dallas for further review.

Northwest Texas Hospital's Lifestar, on its way to Amarillo from the Oklahoma-Texas state line, crashed 20 miles south of Boise City, Okla., killing three crew members and an infant patient.

Lauren Stone, 30, flight nurse; Terry Griffith, 35, flight paramedic; Ed Sanneman, 33, pilot; and patient Kathy Janett Esparza, 4 months, all died at the scene.

The 1994 BO-105CBS-5 Eurocopter, NWTH's backup aircraft, went down after taking off south of Boise City from U.S. Highway 385 under foggy conditions. Investigators determined the aircraft crashed at approximately 6:05 a.m., shortly after takeoff, Ragogna said.

Ragogna said initial information indicated the aircraft's Emergency Locator Transmitter disintegrated in the fiery crash and did not sound. But Rogogna said an aircraft in the area did pick up the ELT signal and report the signal to authorities.

Weather conditions, mechanical failure and human error are all under scrutiny as possible causes of the crash.

Full results from the investigation will not be released for at least six months, Ragogna said, but the NTSB did say the helicopter landed right-side up before rolling nearly 300 feet.

"The initial impact point appears to have been made by the left skid of the helicopter," Ragogna said.

The engine, main rotor system and transmission systems were still connected to each other and were found 275 feet from the initial impact site, Ragogna said.

"That was the largest piece of wreckage that was at the scene," Ragogna said.

Part of the NTSB investigation will revolve around the aircraft's main rotor, Ragogna said. The Federal Aviation Administration adopted an airworthiness directive Nov. 2 for the B0-105CBS-5 Eurocopter and several other B0-105 Eurocopters, which was prompted by an accident in which a main rotor blade separated from a B0-105 helicopter. That accident killed three crew members. The NTSB report referred to by Ragogna did not give details of the accident.

The directive said there was a problem with the B0-105's tension torsion. The report concluded that the tension torsion strap, which holds the blades to the rotor, ruptured and a blade flew off, causing the pilot to lose control of the aircraft.

Rogogna said part of the investigation will be to determine that proper maintenance was done to the helicopter to repair the tension torsion strap. The directive ordered all affected B0-105's receive maintenance to correct the problem.

"We don't have any indication that (directives) were not complied with," Ragogna said.

Sanneman's body was taken to Lubbock Saturday, where an autopsy was conducted, Ragogna said. The procedure is part of any routine crash investigation, he said.

Griffith and Esparza were buried Monday and Stone's funeral is scheduled for today. Arrangements have not been announced for Sanneman's funeral.

NWTH's flags will fly at half-staff until 10:30 a.m. Friday, exactly a week after the aircraft was found.

The hospital is making arrangements for a memorial service for the crew, but plans were still tentative. The hospital suggests memorials be to Lifestar Memorial Fund c/o Amarillo National Bank, P.O. Box 1, Amarillo, TX 79105.

http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/031400/new_probe.shtml

-- (Dee360Degree@aol.com), March 14, 2000

Answers

UPDATE........

Mechanical malfunction had nothing to do with medical helicopter crash 08/24/2000

Associated Press

AMARILLO - Investigators have ruled out mechanical failure in the medical helicopter crash near the Texas-Oklahoma border that killed three crew members and their infant patient in March.

"From everything that we looked at, we did not find anything wrong with the helicopter," said Jason Ragogna, lead investigator with the National Transportation and Safety Board.

The board is now concentrating on weather and pilot error as possible causes. "Weather has played a significant role in this accident," Ragogna told the Amarillo Globe-News.

The helicopter crashed about 6:05 a.m. on March 10, moments after taking off from U.S. 385 about 25 miles north of Dalhart. Killed were pilot Ed Sanneman, 33; flight paramedic Terry Griffith, 35; flight nurse Lauren Stone, 30, and 4-month-old patient Kathy Esparza.

The Lifestar helicopter left Amarillo early that morning to pick up the infant, who was suffering respiratory distress, from Cimarron Memorial Hospital in Boise City, Okla.

The helicopter originally was dispatched to pick up the infant at a hospital, but could not reach it because of dense fog. An ambulance transported the infant to meet the helicopter about three miles inside the Texas-Oklahoma border.

Besides fog, snow also fell in the area throughout the day.

By the time the ambulance met the helicopter crew about 6 a.m., the NTSB said ice had accumulated on the ambulance's windows and antenna. The helicopter could have been on the ground awaiting the ambulance for as long as an hour before the transfer took place.

Federal Aviation Administration Flight Standards spokesman Floyd Dockum said any aircraft waiting on the ground under such conditions can accumulate ice on its wings and rotors.

Ragogna says a final analysis of the crash won't be available for months.

http://dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/155492_COPTER.html

-- Doris (reaper1@mindspring.com), August 25, 2000.