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Preliminary report on helicopter crash released
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| Brenda French |
By Carol Broeder/Arizona Range News
The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report on the air ambulance crash that killed a Willcox native and two other crewmembers recently in Tucson.
The LifeNet helicopter fell 600 feet in eight seconds before it hit the ground, according to that report.
It lost radio contact about 140 feet above the ground and a quarter-mile before it crashed outside of a home on North Park Avenue near East Glenn Street on Wednesday, July 28, the preliminary report states.
The three crew members - pilot Alex Kelley, 61; paramedic Brenda French, 28; and flight nurse Parker Summons, 41 - all died in the crash.
The AS350 B3 Eurocopter was flying from Marana to its home base in Douglas at about 1:21 p.m. that day, authorities said.
The manufacturer was American Eurocopter is American aircraft manufacturing company that considers itself a leading provider of helicopters in the United States.
According to the report, witnesses said they saw the helicopter fly in a southeast direction when it started to descend rapidly.
Witnesses also told investigators the helicopter made some unusual sounds, including rapid intermittent popping noises.
The sounds were followed by quiet as the helicopter descended.
The helicopter's flight trajectory became vertical as it fell, but the aircraft was level when it hit the ground, the report states.
The NTSB is still investigating the crash.
That investigation could take up to a year to complete.
French, who was born in Willcox on Dec. 28, 1981, grew up in the Bonita area, and still has family in Willcox and Safford.
She graduated from Winslow High School in 2000, and later attended the EMT program at Eastern Arizona College (EAC) in Thatcher.
French began as an EMT with the Sunsites-Pearce Fire Department; and then returned to EAC to obtain her Paramedic certification, becoming the Captain of EMS services for the Sunsites organization.
She recently received her Fire Fighter I & II certification at EAC, and had been working as a flight paramedic for Air Methods Corporation-LifeNet Arizona since March.
French was laid to rest Aug. 5, in the Safford Cemetery, after a service in the 20th Street LDS Chapel.
A public memorial for all three victims of the crash was also held at Calvary Chapel East in Tucson.
The LifeNet helicopter fell 600 feet in eight seconds before it hit the ground, according to that report.
It lost radio contact about 140 feet above the ground and a quarter-mile before it crashed outside of a home on North Park Avenue near East Glenn Street on Wednesday, July 28, the preliminary report states.
The three crew members - pilot Alex Kelley, 61; paramedic Brenda French, 28; and flight nurse Parker Summons, 41 - all died in the crash.
The AS350 B3 Eurocopter was flying from Marana to its home base in Douglas at about 1:21 p.m. that day, authorities said.
The manufacturer was American Eurocopter is American aircraft manufacturing company that considers itself a leading provider of helicopters in the United States.
According to the report, witnesses said they saw the helicopter fly in a southeast direction when it started to descend rapidly.
Witnesses also told investigators the helicopter made some unusual sounds, including rapid intermittent popping noises.
The sounds were followed by quiet as the helicopter descended.
The helicopter's flight trajectory became vertical as it fell, but the aircraft was level when it hit the ground, the report states.
The NTSB is still investigating the crash.
That investigation could take up to a year to complete.
French, who was born in Willcox on Dec. 28, 1981, grew up in the Bonita area, and still has family in Willcox and Safford.
She graduated from Winslow High School in 2000, and later attended the EMT program at Eastern Arizona College (EAC) in Thatcher.
French began as an EMT with the Sunsites-Pearce Fire Department; and then returned to EAC to obtain her Paramedic certification, becoming the Captain of EMS services for the Sunsites organization.
She recently received her Fire Fighter I & II certification at EAC, and had been working as a flight paramedic for Air Methods Corporation-LifeNet Arizona since March.
French was laid to rest Aug. 5, in the Safford Cemetery, after a service in the 20th Street LDS Chapel.
A public memorial for all three victims of the crash was also held at Calvary Chapel East in Tucson.
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BILL wrote on Aug 26, 2010 10:42 PM: