Law Enforcement Helicopter Aviation

Cleveland Ohio Police Officer Art Fantroy executed a near textbook auto rotational landing maneuver when the engine in his MD500E helicopter suddenly decided to stop working.  Pilot/Officer Fantroy was not injured and the helicopter suffered no damage during the emergency landing on a farm 20 miles south of Mansfield Oh. 

Fantroy was apparently ferrying the helicopter to Columbus for routine maintenance when the incident occurred.  Fantroy previously flew helicopters in both Vietnam and in the first Gulf War. 

MD Helicopters enjoy a strong following among the pilots who fly them.  It is a rugged and versatile helicopter design that has been proven over time.  If you are going to have an engine out in a helicopter, this is a good one to be in.  They are known in the helicopter industry as one of the most crash worthy helicopters you can strap yourself into.  What does that mean?  That means that if you screw up the engine out, auto rotation, emergency landing procedure, you will still probably walk away from it with all of your extremities intact.

With that said there seems to be something amiss right now with the particular engines in the MD500E.  Columbus Ohio PD has had two engine out incidents in this same make and model helicopter, within the last year or so.  Both of those pilots also walked away with either none or very minor injuries, (one helicopter rolled onto it's side as a result of landing in soft or muddy terrain.)

During a recent 100 hour inspection our mechanics discovered a cracked fuel nozzle in our own 500E which would have eventually resulted in a catastrophic engine failure at some point in the near future.  Excellent job by our maintenance division in discovering this fault!

Kudos again to Officer Fantroy for coming out of this emergency unscathed, and for saving the City of Cleveland a lot of money during this down turned economy, (no damage to the helicopter.)

Check out the first comment in this news story about the incident, I love it! 

So there I was on my day off, watching some of the breaking coverage of the untimely death of Mr. Michael Jackson when into the picture swoops a rather large green helicopter with the word "Sheriff" on the side.  The reporter began explaining that the helicopter was there to transport the body of Michael Jackson from the hospital to the Coroners officer due to the clogged streets and throngs of people who had gathered at the hospital.

I must admit that the my very first thought was that this was really "over the top" and that someone somewhere was making an even bigger spectacle out of Mr. Jackson's death than what circumstances called for.  Not to take anything away from Michael Jackson, but to send a very large rescue helicopter at tax payers expense to transport his remains, seemed to be playing right into the media hype and extravagance. 

It was not long however before I realized that it was probably a very smart decision which solved a huge problem for a number of high level decision makers in numerous Los Angeles City and County Departments, (Police, Sheriff, Public Works, Coroner, etc.).  The problem was blatantly obvious.  How do you get Mr. Jackson's body from the hospital to the coroners office without bringing the surrounding city streets to a standstill, and really creating a spectacle.  Not only do helicopters save lives, but they solve problems, and the presence of this helicopter and crew surely helped in solving a few logistical problems that suddenly befell the county and city governments yesterday.

So just who was this helicopter and crew that received world wide media coverage when they were called upon to transport Mr. Jackson's body?

While I don't have exact names it appears to be the Los Angeles Sheriff's "Air Rescue 5" unit flying one of their Sikorsky H3 Sea King helicopters.  The Air Rescue 5 program provides search and rescue capabilities for Los Angeles County California and is arguably one of the most elite civilian helicopter operations in the world.  Each H3 Sea King is staffed by two deputy sheriff pilots, one sergeant/crew chief, and two Emergency Service Detail deputy paramedics. 

I guess even in the air unit you never know what the day will bring when you show up to work for the start of your shift.

The NTSB has published the preliminary accident report involving the New Mexico State Police Rescue Helicopter which crashed on the 12,000' level of Mount Santa Fe Baldy earlier this month. The report confirms earlier news reports that the helicopter likely entered inadvertent IMC (Instrument Meteorological Conditions) shortly after lifting off and subsequently suffered a tail rotor strike as a result.

The report also confirmed that the helicopter involved in the crash was the Agusta Spa A-109E helicopter, N606SP.  The entire NTSB preliminary report is available on the NTSB website.

During the same time that the NTSB published their initial report, New Mexico State Police released the recordings of radio transmissions between the pilot and the New Mexico State Dispatch Center.  The pilot's wife was not only on duty at the communications center, but actually the dispatcher on the other end of the radio transmissions.  The pilot, Sgt. Tingwall, called her by name and advised he had hit the mountain, and that he was "going down."  The helicopter continued to fly for just under a minute before impacting the side of the mountain and rolling 800' to it's final resting place below. 

In addition to all of the events leading up to the tail rotor strike, the accident investigation will likely also focus on why Sgt. Tingwall and the hiker, Ms. Yamamoto were ejected from the aircraft, resulting in their deaths.  The medical examiner determined that Sgt. Tingwall died of hypothermia complicated by injuries suffered during the crash.

File photo of Agusta 109 helicopter, Juergen Lehle photo Wikimedia Commons. The Agusta Westland A-109E Power Helicopter is an 8 passenger (1- pilot 7- passenger) twin engine helicopter with a top speed of 168  knots (VNE) a service ceiling of 19,600', and an "in ground effect" hover ceiling of 16,600'. 

What we have not learned from the NTSB's report is if Sgt. Tingwall was an IFR rated pilot and if the crew were operating on night vision goggles, (NVG's do not provide any measure of safety when flying in the clouds, however they may help prevent inadvertent flight into clouds.)

This remains a sad day in police aviation.

On Tuesday evening just after 9:00 pm a New Mexico State Police helicopter landed near the 12,000 foot level of Santa Fe Baldy to rescue a female hiker who had become separated from her party.  The hiker, Megumi Yamamoto (a student at the University of New Mexico) called 911 from her cell phone around 5:30 pm to report that she had become separated from her boyfriend while hiking.

The high altitude equipped police helicopter was piloted by Sgt. Andy Tingwall (36) with Officer Wesley Cox (29) performing the Tactical Flight Officer duties.  Yamamoto was eventually located and loaded onto the helicopter for a flight back to Santa Fe.  Shortly after take off the pilot radioed that they had "hit the mountain."  State police dispatch asked if they were ok, and the pilot reportedly responded "not really."  This was that last transmission from the helicopter crew. 

Police officials believe the crash most likely occurred on the north west ridge of Santa Fe Baldy, an area described as rugged and inhospitable. 

Additional rescue helicopters were launched but were unable to reach the crash location due to adverse weather, low visibility and snow storms. 

Search and Rescue Crews hiked through the night in an attempt to reach the crash site, but still had not reached the scene by mid morning.  The weather continued to keep rescue helicopters from locating the crash scene, although they were able to pick up the ELT (emergency locator transmittor) emitted by the helicopter. 

At around 12:45 pm on Wednesday afternoon search crews located the TFO Wesley Cox, who though injured, had hiked over a mile down the mountain toward help.  In addition to injuries from the crash, Cox was suffering from severe hypothermia.  Officer Cox was hoisted off the mountain by a National Guard Black Hawk helicopter, with paramedics on board, and flown to a regional medical center for treatment.

Officer Cox was able to provide fellow officers with the first accounts of the crash.  One New Mexico Telivision Station reported that Officer Cox indicated the helicopters tail rotor may have struck something as they lifted off.  However, other reports indicated that the helicopter may have crashed several minutes after take off. 

Officer Cox did tell his rescuers and investigators that he believed he was the only survivor.  Cox indicated that all three occupants were ejected from the aircraft as it rolled down the mountainside.  He was able to locate Yamamoto and check her vital signs, but concluded she was deceased.  Officer Cox apparently maintained voice contact with Sgt. Tingwall for a period of time, but presumably could not locate him in the dark.  He also told investigators that he crawled back inside the helicopter where he spent the night taking shelter from the snow storm.  

By late Wednesday evening some searchers had reached the crash site and located the fuselage and debris field, but had yet to locate eithere Yamamoto or Sgt Tingwall. 

Authorities have yet to report the make of helicopter that crashed.  A number of news outlets showed photos of what appeared to be a New Mexico State Police Eurocopter "Astar", however the New Mexico State Police official website shows a picture of an Agusta A Power 109 (twin turbine) helicopter which it says is capable of high altitude rescues. 

It was also reported that Sgt. Tingwall's wife is a dispatcher with the New Mexico State Police and was on duty at the communications center when the accident occurred. 

Police Helicopter Pilot.com will continue to follow this story, and sends it's prayers to Sgt. Tingwall, Ms. Yamamoto and their families, and wishes a speedy recovery to Officer Cox. 

Update on Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 03:58PM by PHP Staff

New Mexico State Police Chief Faron Segotta today confirmed that the bodies of Sgt. Andy Tingwall and UNM physics grad student Megumi Yamamoto have been removed from the helicopter crash site and are being transported via a motorcade to the medical examiners office.

Search and rescue workers located the bodies just prior to noon today but delayed the announcement presumably until family members received proper notification.

Two black hawk helicopters were able to land a the base of an 800' debris field this morning and off load two teams of searchers, who approached the crash site from two different angles. 

A possible tail rotor strike continues to be mentioned in news reports as a potential cause of the crash.  This information apparently comes from statements made by the lone survivor, Officer Wesley Cox, who was the Tactical Flight Officer on the helicopter.

Police Helicopter Pilot.com Staff sends their condolences to the families of Sgt. Tingwall and Ms. Yamamoto.

Please visit the New Mexico State Police Home Page for additional information on the death of Sgt. Tingwall.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bike/3307101892/ Late on the afternoon of Sunday May 25th Sacramento Police Officer Tyson Butler (35) conducted a traffic stop on a white Ford Mustang in the 3700 Block of Business Drive in the City of Sacramento.  As Officer Butler walked toward the suspect vehicle the dash cam on his police car captured what happened next.  The driver of the mustang, later identified as Jose Munoz (19), leaned out the window of his vehicle and began firing his gun at the approaching officer.  Munoz then immediately fled the scene in the white mustang.

Officer Butler, hit in the right arm and the hip, transmitted an urgent call for help on his police radio.  The Sacramento PD helicopter and crew who was on routine patrol in the area heard the call and responded, along with numerous ground units.  It was the crew of the police helicopter who first caught site of the fleeing mustang and directed ground units to intercept it.  A vehicle pursuit ensued until the mustang failed to negotiate a curve in the vicinity of Kiefer Blvd and Happy Ln resulting in a crash. 

The pursuing officers understandably did not approach the vehicle, waiting for the SWAT team to respond instead.  Upon approaching the vehicle SWAT team members discovered the driver dead, from an apparent self inflicted gunshot wound to the head. 

This incident is an excellent example of both the value and effectiveness of airborne law enforcement assets during critical incidents.  A violent and armed assault suspect fleeing the scene of a police shooting poses incredible and immediate danger to both the public and other law enforcement officers.  Whether it was by happenstance or vigilance by the helicopter crew, they were in the right place at the right time to bring this incident to a quick close.  This takes nothing away from the ground officers who put there lives on the line during this incident, as well as each time they drive out of the station parking lot. 

The citizens of Sacramento should thank the leaders of their police department and the City of Sacramento for continued support of their aviation unit, particularly in these tough economic times. 

Excellent job by the air crew!

Police Helicopter Pilot.com wishes a speedy recovery to Officer Butler.