Safety and Maintenance Issues Plague Many Helicopter EMS and Medivac Programs - Catastrophic Injury Lawyers Express Their Concerns
When a catastrophic accident occurs, helicopter evacuation is often used to save lives. However, last year a record number of people died aboard helicopter medical evacuation aircraft.
In 2009, there was twice as many deaths as any other year and the accidents happened not only in bad weather but in good weather as well. Our office was recently contacted by an individual who was previously employed by a helicopter medical evacuation service where an investigation was commenced by the FAA and found numerous safety violations with one of the aircraft deemed unworthy and unsafe for flying. It is alleged that one of the Directors and mechanics is under investigation by the FAA and allegedly facing potential criminal charges.
As Pennsylvania catastrophic injury lawyers, we are familiar with heli-vac EMS programs and our lawyers have also litigated product liability and aviation disasters for many decades. I am somewhat concerned due to the fact that this industry has been slow to improve itself in the maintenance and safety arena and many operating shortcuts are being taken in the hopes of improving profitability and the bottom line. There are approximately 850 to 1,000 EMS helicopters operated in the U.S. privately and no doubt is a lucrative business as I have had many opportunities to review the bills and even pay the same on behalf of injured clients. A typical flight can cost in the arena of about $10,000 and each year approximately 500,000 people fly on EMS helicopters. Many pilots claim that the industry is “frustrated" that their emergency helicopters keep crashing killing people that they are trying to save as while operators and owners were advised continue to stress profitability above safety. Until the government mandates safety regulations with teeth, this is sure to be an area of growing concern. Nothing could be worse for the family of a catastrophic accident victim to learn of the death of a family member while being transported on a medi-vac helicopter that was designed to save their life.
Transportation and pilot experts claim that the FAA may not be moving as quickly as necessary and that this is an ever growing problematic situation. As emergency rooms in rural areas close down or are ill equipped to handle a catastrophic case, medivac use will be more and more common and safety should never be an option. The skilled catastrophic lawyers of Reiff & Bily have recently joined forces with the legendary Beasley Firm to create the Beasley Reiff Law Group. Together we have been awarded over $2 billion dollars in settlements, verdicts, and awards since 1958. For more information, please contact us toll free at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.
