Police Aviation News November 2008

Police Aviation News November 2008 28
pleted the transport by ground ambulance. A broken wire and a faulty resistor were found.
This caused the fuel indicating system to show 15 gallons more at the beginning of the flight
than was actually on board. [Concern]
18 October 2008 Eurocopter EC135 N135ED. Air ambulance of Carilion Clinic Life-
Guard, Roanoke Virginia operated by Air Methods. The aircraft was en route to a Public
Relations event in Dublin, Virginia from their primary base at Carilion New River Valley
Medical Center in Christiansburg, VA when caution lights indicated FADEC failure. The pilot
decided to return to the base. While on finals the pilot opted to divert to the local airport for
its better facilities. An uneventful precautionary landing was completed without incident. The
duty mechanic in discussion with Eurocopter Tech Reps led to the NG sensors being
cleaned and swapped from engine to engine. This resolved the issues resolved and the
aircraft returned to base. [Concern]
21 October 2008 Robinson R44 PJ-LIH. Leeward Islands Helicopters. Operating in an
emergency medevac night IFR role outbound from St Maarten to the small island of Saba to
collect a heart patient at night when it crashed under unknown circumstances into the sea
about half way between the start point and the destination near Juancho Yrausquin airport
on Saba killing the two persons aboard. One was a local police Chief Inspector Alfred Churchill
Marsdin and the pilot was the company owner and chief pilot Micheal Huttenlocker. On
current information it is understood that this was not a police operation and that although
Marsdin remained a 30-year police veteran he was a business associate in the helicopter
company on that night. [media/Pprune]
26 October 2008 Eurocopter BK117 N138HH. Air ambulance of the Hartford Hospital
LIFE STAR Hartford, Connecticut, operated by Air Methods. Pilot initiated a precautionary
landing after experiencing a significant reduction of power in the #2 engine. The landing
was accomplished without incident. It was determined that the #2 engine needed
replacement. [Concern]
PEOPLE
Captain Steve Ford, a pilot with the Devon Air Ambulance Trust was killed in a tragic motorcycle
accident last month.
Heléna Holt, Chief Executive of the DAAT said
“Steve Ford was a truly remarkable man and pilot,
respected and loved by all the team.
He has led a life of giving, joining Bond Air Services,
the company we lease one of our helicopters
from, after a distinguished career as a pilot in
the Army.
Whenever he could, Steve gave up his time to
volunteer for the charity, whether that was accepting
cheques on the charity’s behalf at presentations,
helping at the recent Commando Challenge,
or acting as a marshal at our base to base
annual motorcycle ride. He was a star.
“We are a close knit team, both in and out of
work, and we are devastated at the news of
Steve’s death. Our thoughts are with his wife
Julia, who also worked for the charity, and their
children at this very difficult and sad time.”
Nigel Hare, Clinical Support Officer for the Devon
Captain Steve Ford—his favourite work photo