By Don Riley/Network Indiana
3/18/2010
The National Transportation Safety Board is blaming pilot error for the fatal 2008 crash of an Air Angels medical helicopter in Aurora, Illinois.
Listen:
The helicopter, piloted by 69-year-old Delbert Waugh of Carmel, flew into a radio tower just before midnight on October 15, 2008.
Four people were killed including Waugh and a 14-month-old patient, Kirstin Blockinger of Leland, Illinois.
The girl's parents are suing Waugh's estate and others associated with the now-defunct Air Angels service for unspecified damages over her death.
The NTSB report blames the night flight crash into the tower on the pilot's "inadequate preflight planning, insufficient altitude and a flight route too low to clear the tower."
The report also says the air traffic controller's failure to issue a safety alert as required by the FAA contributed to the crash.
The NTSB says the Bell helicopter was not equipped with a terrain awareness and warning system, which would have detected any obstacle along the flight path and alerted the pilot.
The NTSB is recommending all medical helicopter companies install the system in their aircraft.
» Hero Remembered (10-23-08)
» Carmel Pilot Killed In Helicopter Crash In Illinois (10-16-08)
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