Medivac helicopter missing

[Baradium]

I don't have a lot of time to do any more searching for a link, sorry.

Before leaving Alaska I heard (and saw a blip on TV) that a medivac bird went missing between anchorage and maybe an area near kodiak (sorry, don't remember the second location).

No distress signal received.  There were portions over water, if they went into the sound they may never be found (and as many of you may be aware, that can be true even over land, especially in Alaska).

I'm unaware of any updates.   4 on board, pilot, two flight nurses, and a patient.   At least one of the flight nurses for this flight was a volunteer from the Kenai area.

No other information from me at this time.

[PiperGirl]

I heard that on NPR also... It stinks when the medivac helecopters crash.

[TheSoccerMom]

That can be one helluva stressful job...  there are times when no one should be out, but the pressure is always there, to go, even when "management" doesn't explicitly say as much.

My hat is off to them.  I sure hope these folks will be found alright.  It's a lot of exposure, for the return.   

[Frank N. O.]

Darn, that's not good at all. Has there been any news? I really hope things turn out right 

Frank

[Baradium]

Both stories are from Dec 5th, and thus 4 days old at this posting.  I came across them after searching and have not seen anything on news wires otherwise.

http://www.defrance.org/artman/publish/article_1943.shtml

LifeGuard helicopter crew named; first look at possible crash site
by


Searchers this morning got their first look from the air of the Prince William Sound waters where they think an air ambulance with four people aboard went down.

An hour into their search, they had seen no sign of wreckage, an emergency locator device or the passengers, said a spokesman for the search effort.

A LifeGuard helicopter carrying patient Gay McDowell of Cordova, pilot Lance Brabham of Soldotna, paramedic Cameron Carter of Kenai and nurse John Stumpff of Sterling vanished in nasty weather Monday evening.

Heavy snow, strong winds and poor visibility hindered search efforts Monday night and most of Tuesday, keeping helicopters grounded and limiting C-130s to electronic and radar searches.

As Wednesday dawned, holes in the clouds permitted choppers to fly over Esther Island, where the LifeGuard made its final progress report at 5:18 p.m. Monday

"The weather's looking better," said McHugh Pierre, spokesman for the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. "There's still cloud coverage, but there are some holes so the copters can go through to do visual searches.

"The weather might change later today, so we want to take advantage of that."

In the air were a Pavehawk helicopter and a C-130 from the Alaska Air National Guard and a Jayhawk helicopter from the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard cutter Sycamore, which has been in the Sound since Tuesday morning, continued its water search with the assistance of three private fishing boats from Whittier.

The LifeGuard lifted off from the Cordova airport at 4:40 p.m. Monday. It was bound for Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, about 150 miles and 90 minutes away.

I heard that the paramedic was a volunteer



http://www.newsdaily.com/TopNews/UPI-1-20071205-15460200-bc-us-medevac.xml

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Bad weather has hampered the search for a helicopter that vanished in Alaska as it carried a woman to an Anchorage hospital.
 
The LifeGuard helicopter was last heard from almost 40 minutes after it took off from Cordova at 4:40 p.m. Monday, The Anchorage Daily News reported. When the pilot failed to make his next two scheduled progress reports, the helicopter was declared overdue.

Keith Essex, owner of Alpine Air, a helicopter service in Girdwood, said the pilot may have been caught in unexpected nasty weather.

"It was a very, very unusual weather phenomenon," he said. "A lot of times the weather will come off the Gulf

of Alaska; it will have a direction it will move in from. But this didn't come from a specific area. All of a sudden a cloud formed over the mountains, it descended and it started snowing. It created its own weather. It was actually very scary."

Poor visibility and blowing snow on Tuesday made the search difficult.

Gay McDowell, co-owner of the Cordova Rose Lodge, was being taken to Anchorage for treatment of complications from breast cancer surgery. In addition to the pilot, a paramedic and nurse were on board.

[Baradium]

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/9506919p-9417616c.html

Helicopter debris, one body are found

By LISA DEMER
ldemer@adn.com

Published: December 8, 2007
Last Modified: December 8, 2007 at 09:39 PM

Searchers on Saturday afternoon found near Whittier helicopter debris and the body of one of four people missing since Monday when an air ambulance vanished over Prince William Sound, according to Alaska State Troopers.

The debris was in Passage Canal, which leads into Whittier. The body of John Stumpff, 47, of Sterling appears to have been washed up on shore near the debris, said Megan Peters, trooper spokeswoman. He was the nurse aboard the flight.

Still missing: pilot Lance Brabham, 42, of Soldotna; paramedic Cameron Carter, 24, of Kenai and patient Gaye McDowell, 60, of Cordova.

Details were sketchy Saturday evening. Peters said troopers are trying to piece together what happened and that more information should come out on Sunday.

"This is by no means the end of the search effort. They are making arrangements and plans to see what needs to be done tomorrow," Peters said. Searchers were heading in Saturday evening and the effort will resume at first light Sunday, she said.

The debris is being turned over to the National Transportation Safety Board for an investigation into what went wrong.

The LifeGuard helicopter went missing about 40 minutes into a scheduled 90-minute flight between Cordova and Anchorage.

The Alaska Air National Guard has had a C-130 and a Pave Hawk helicopter on the scene. The U.S. Coast Guard earlier in the week launched the 225-foot cutter Sycamore, but it returned to its home port in Cordova Friday evening to restock and refuel, said McHugh Pierre, spokesman for the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

A Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter also was searching on Saturday, as was the trooper helicopter known as Helo-1, Pierre said at midday.

Peters said she wasn't sure which helicopter spotted the debris and body or how it was recovered.

A fleet of small, private aluminum fishing boats from Whittier and volunteer pilots in the Valdez Civil Air Patrol have helped in the search. The Alaska Railroad sent snowmachines out Thursday after a motorist on the Seward Highway reported seeing something on Spencer Glacier, but that turned up nothing.

McDowell, co-owner of the Cordova Rose Lodge, was on her way to Providence Alaska Medical Center to be treated for complications following breast cancer surgery,