By Daniel Kraker
Flagstaff, AZ –
The National Transportation Safety Board released new information on last summer's helicopter crash over Flagstaff today, as well as information on the nine most recent fatal crashes involving emergency medical helicopters.
The information on the Flagstaff crash is strictly factual. The board's analysis of what led to the crash isn't due for another six months.
Among the documents included in the docket are transcripts of radio communications between the pilots and air traffic controllers. A preliminary report from the NTSB suggests the pilots may not have been warned by dispatchers to look out for another helicopter.
The docket also includes grainy pictures from a FMC surveillance camera, that captured the collision on digital video.
Seven men died in the crash last June over McMillan Mesa in Flagstaff. Nationwide 28 people died in seven accidents involving medical aircraft in the first ten months of last year. The Transportation Safety Board has scheduled a four-day hearing early next month to give the issue greater visibility and urgency.
Click here for a link to the National Transportation safety board docket on the Flagstaff crash.