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Washington, D.C. – Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Republican leaders are requesting the Committee conduct a hearing into air ambulance flight safety when Congress returns for business next year.
A September 28th crash of an emergency air medical flight near Washington, D.C. brought the number of such accidents in the past year to 15 (eight of the accidents have involved fatalities).
“Air ambulance flights are responsible for saving numerous lives because of how quickly they can get a critically injured person into the hands of medical professionals,” said U.S. Rep. John L. Mica (R-FL), Republican Leader of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. “So when an accident like this happens, it is particularly devastating because help was so close at hand.
“With the recent increase in accidents and the reintroduction of the FAA reauthorization bill next year, a hearing on medical flight safety would bring some necessary focus to what safety improvements need to be made to help prevent these tragic incidents and provide oversight of the FAA’s actions related to the safe operation of air medical flights,” Mica said.
“Medical flight personnel risk their lives on missions of mercy, and their passengers are patients – wholly blameless and already undergoing medical emergencies,” said U.S. Rep. Tom Petri (R-WI), the ranking Republican on the Aviation Subcommittee. “We owe it to everyone involved, their loved ones, and to ourselves to get to the bottom of the apparent increase in medical flight accidents.”
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended measures to improve safety, including equipping aircraft with terrain awareness and warning systems (TAWS) and equipment to allow safer flight at night and in poor weather conditions. NTSB has also recommended adopting flight risk evaluation programs and procedures, and the appropriate pilot and crew training.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) formed a task force to look into the increased number of medical flight accidents and is in the process of developing enhanced safety rules that include several of the NTSB recommendations and development of better metrics to track general aviation operations, including air medical flights.
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