LIFEBEAT BACK IN THE SKIES: PROBE OF HELICOPTER ACCIDENTS CONTINUES

LifeBeat, Southeast Missouri Hospital's medical helicopter service, is operating again after a helicopter accident at the hospital.

Another helicopter and pilot from St. Louis Helicopter Airways Inc. were on the job by 8 p.m. Tuesday, said Rodger Huffman, chief flight nurse for LifeBeat.

Medical flight service was disrupted after Tuesday's accident that forced a replacement LifeBeat helicopter owned and operated by St. Louis Helicopter Airways to land on Broadway near the hospital. The regular LifeBeat helicopter is undergoing routine safety and maintenance checks.

No one was injured in the accident.

St. Louis Helicopter Airways provides pilots for the regular LifeBeat aircraft and provides helicopters when the LifeBeat aircraft is undergoing the checks.

Despite the accident, Huffman said he has no qualms about going out on LifeBeat flights. "There's a greater chance of being involved in an accident on the interstate than on a medical flight," he said.

Jack Russell, president of St. Louis Helicopter Airways, said flights are safe. The company's policies on safety and preflight procedures comply with all Federal Aviation Administration codes, he said.

LifeBeat has been in operation about 12 years and has responded to almost 10,000 requests, the hospital said in a news release. Huffman said that in 1998 LifeBeat had 868 requests for service, although figures were not available for how many of those requests were responded to.

Air Evac, a private medical helicopter service that operates out of St. Francis Medical Center, averages about one-and-one-half flights per 24 hours, said Stan Coss, director of aviation for Air Evac. That is an average of about 517 flights per year.

"As a general statement, air medical flights are safe, but accidents do occur," Coss said.

As for Tuesday's accident, a report on the cause probably will be weeks coming, said Elizabeth Isham Cory, deputy of public affairs for the FAA's Great Lakes Region.

The helicopter involved has been moved to St. Louis where the investigation will take place, Cory said. FAA investigators will not come to Cape Girardeau, said Cory.

"Investigators did get a full report from Cape police with photos, and they felt satisfied with that," Cory said.

The final report will be issued by the National Transportation and Safety Board, an independent federal agency that investigates civil aviation accidents, Cory said.

The only other LifeBeat accident occurred in 1995. Since beginning flights at St. Francis in 1987, Coss said there has been only one accident. It occurred in 1988, killing three people.