Air Ambulance Crashes Reach Record Levels

By Ramsay Crooks

Published on July 22, 2005

If the same proportion of commercial jets had crashed during this same period, there would have been 90 commercial airline crashes each year for the past five years.

In April of 2004 a pilot on the Air Evac Lifeteam air ambulance apparently forgot to adjust the helicopter's altimeter, resulting in the death of 63-year-old patient, Jerry Leonard. The medical team survived, but Leonard was thrown from the helicopter, strapped into a gurney that subsequently strangled him to death.

According to a USA TODAY investigation, air ambulance companies and the federal government who regulate them, repeatedly failed to take steps to prevent these tragedies. Recent medical studies have questioned the need for many air ambulance flights and, since air ambulance firms receive approximately $7,500 per flight, many speculate money to be a motivating factor for many otherwise, unnecessary flights.

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