Hope this is not one of our own. (Summit County Flight For Life Crashes, Killing Pilot)

[rbeau30]

carnplanenut, did you know him?

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/flight-for-life-helicopter-crashes-in-frisco-photos-from-lake-dillon-fire-rescue (http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/flight-for-life-helicopter-crashes-in-frisco-photos-from-lake-dillon-fire-rescue)

Prayers for the family.

[theGinsue]

Saw this on the news tonight. Tragic.

My wife was airlifted out of the mtns in September 2013. I'll always hold medical airlift pilots & crews in very high regard.

[TheGrey]

My heart went out to his family, friends, and co-workers.

[sniper7]

Wow, very tragic. Prayers sent

[Mazin]

The pilot as well as their family are in my prayers. Tragic indeed.

[OtterbatHellcat]

Man, that sucks. We take care of their ground units....very sad to hear of this news.

[Alpha2]

I can't find out where the chopper was based, does anyone know?

[Delfuego]

This is terrible news. Last year I met and received training from the St Anthony's Lakewood Flight For Life crews. I learned that they now have another crew based in Summit county that provide emergency medical transport for the mountains and ski resort areas. That team can provide rescue services faster than St A's here in town for people in Summit and surrounding areas. St A's Lakewood is still the destination for Level 1 trauma, St' A's Summit county can provide Level 3 trauma care.

These people risk their lives every time a call comes in. They fly in adverse and extreme conditions to help out people at great risk to themselves. Never looked up the word hero in the dictionary, but sounds about right to me.

[BigBear]

My life was saved by flight for life in high school. They are true heroes. Tragic news, prayers to his family.

[Doc45]

My son is a flight medic in the CO National Guard (E6) and for Tristate Careflight in Durango. He's on shift today, waiting to hear if there's anything to share. Very tragic, condolences to the families and hope the injured recover.

[Gman]

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/flight-for-life-helicopter-pilot-killed-in-crash-was-decorated-us-army-pilot-in-vietnam


FRISCO, Colo. - Patrick Mahany was a respected veteran chopper pilot.

The 64-year-old Mahany was a decorated U.S. Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam and he had flown for Flight for Life for 27 years.

Yet Mahany's remarkable flying career came to a tragic end Friday afternoon, when the Flight for Life helicopter he was piloting went down in a fiery crash in Frisco (http://bit.ly/1RWJyZt). He was killed and two colleagues -- the flight paramedic and nurse -- were injured. There was no patient onboard.

[cmailliard]

I can't find out where the chopper was based, does anyone know?

Flight for Life has 5 Rotor Wing Aircraft and 2 Fixed Wing Aircraft
Lifeguard 1 - Denver (St. Anthony Hospital)
Lifeguard 2 - Summit County (Summit County Medical Center) This is the aircraft that crashed
Lifeguard 3 - Colorado Springs (Penrose)
Lifeguard 4 - Pueblo (St. Mary Corwin)
Lifeguard 5 - Durango (Mercy)

All 4 Helicopters and both Airplanes are currently Out Of Service

[Ah Pook]

Sad news.

[mtnhigh]

Very sad news.

[RCCrawler]

Very sad story.


All 4 Helicopters and both Airplanes are currently Out Of Service

Why pull them all out of service? I wonder how many lives they save everyday?

[cmailliard]

Very sad story.


Why pull them all out of service? I wonder how many lives they save everyday?

May be the SOP until the FAA and other investigators determine the cause. Centura, Air Methods, or FFL themselves could have ordered them grounded. If there is a problem with maintenance, a part, or a training issue they do not want the same thing to happen again. But I am mostly just SWAGing as to why.

[J]

May be the SOP until the FAA and other investigators determine the cause. Centura, Air Methods, or FFL themselves could have ordered them grounded. If there is a problem with maintenance, a part, or a training issue they do not want the same thing to happen again. But I am mostly just SWAGing as to why.

Likely one of those is the case. I was driving through that area not 15 minutes before this happened on my way to Grand Junction for the weekend. There were no significant meteorological conditions that would have been a primary contributor to the crash. I'd put good odds the NTSB comes out with either Mx or Pilot error.