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Pilot of Crashed Air Ambulance Had Clean Record
October 5, 2007 2:10 PM
ALAMOSA, Colo. (AP) _ The pilot of a medical plane that slammed into a southern Colorado mountainside had a clean record in 22 years of flying, according to his employer.
Eagle Air Med Incorporated says 46-year-old pilot Ric Miller of Wenatchee, Washington, died in the crash along with 25-year-old flight nurse Ronnie Helton, of Birmingham, Alabama, and 32-year-old flight paramedic Dana Dedman, of Chinle (CHIN-lee), Arizona.
The wreckage was found Friday. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
The crew left Chinle late Thursday in the twin-engine plane to pick up a patient in Alamosa but never arrived.
Eagle Air Med says Miller had made no distress calls to the company's communications center.
It says this was the company's first fatal accident.
Eagle Air Med says Miller held helicopter and fixed wing pilot certificates and was airline transport pilot rated, with more than 12,000 hours of logged flight time, including 2,400 hours with the U.S. Marine Corps reserve.
Eagle Air Med says it's possible some air medical services could resume as early as today.
a Beechcraft King Air C 90 like the one that crashed near Alamosa, photo courtesy University of St. Francis
Posted by Eric Whitney on October 5, 2007 2:10 PM | Permalink
