| Loud noise heard before crash |
Seconds before an Aero Med helicopter crashed on the roof of Spectrum Health's Butterworth Hospital on Thursday, the pilot and his passenger, a Federal Aviation Administration official, heard a loud noise, possibly indicating a mechanical failure.
Pilot Raymond Sampson and FAA official Willard Elliott both told a federal investigator they heard a loud "pop," and the helicopter began yawing, or turning, to the right.
With the chopper only 30 to 50 feet above the roof, Sampson tried to compensate by pushing a left pedal, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Jim Silliman said Friday.
The FAA has no records indicating previous problems with the helicopter or two others owned by Spectrum Health, an FAA official in Chicago said.
Spectrum has taken its two remaining helicopters out of service "indefinitely," hospital spokesman Bruce Rossman said.
Spectrum notified other West Michigan air ambulance services Friday it might ask them to provide coverage until Aero Med resumes flying.
Even when Aero Med does resume service, only one of its two Sikorsky helicopters will be available. The older helicopter is in Pennsylvania undergoing renovation, Rossman said. The newer helicopter was delivered six months ago and is authorized to fly.
The rooftop helipad is closed pending the federal investigation.
Emergency helicopters from other hospitals will be able to land at the Aero Med hangar at Gerald R. Ford International Airport, with patients then transported to Butterworth by ambulance, Rossman said.
The NTSB is leading the crash investigation, with help from the FAA.
The helicopter took off from the Aero Med hangar at Gerald R. Ford International Airport shortly before 11 a.m. Thursday.
It was making an instrument approach to Butterworth's rooftop helipad, using its global positioning system. About a mile out, Sampson switched to a visual approach and landed on the roof.
The helicopter remained there about 3 minutes while Sampson and Elliott discussed procedures, Silliman said.
The helicopter then lifted off, rising 30 to 50 feet above the roof, preparing to fly off and make another approach and landing. That was when the two men heard the noise, and the craft began turning to the right.
Silliman said he had not yet been able to confirm accounts by several witnesses, who said the chopper's rear rotor hit a radio tower on the hospital roof.
As Sampson fought to control the helicopter, the main rotor that provides the lift struck the top of an elevator shaft "four or five times," Silliman said.
Pieces of the main rotor flew across the adjacent construction site, where workers are building the new Helen DeVos Children's Hospital. Some pieces landed in front of the Van Andel Institute across Bostwick Avenue NE.
The helicopter crashed back to the roof and burst into flames, but Sampson and Elliott were able to escape. They were clinging to duct work several feet below the helipad until rescued by firefighters.
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