Re: Urgent-Valley AirCare Down

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3 p.m. UPDATE: Strong winds recorded before helicopter crash, weather service

says

By Borjon / The Brownsville Herald

February 6, 2008 - 12:48PM

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND - A cold front reached the Laguna Madre at about the same

time that a medical helicopter crashed Tuesday night, according to the National

Weather Service in Brownsville, and could have contributed to the accident that

killed the pilot and two medical workers.

The Valley AirCare helicopter crashed into the Laguna Madre at around 9:30 p.m.

Tuesday.

Based on measurements taken in Bayview, wind speeds in the Laguna Madre area

went from about 9 mph before 9 p.m. to gusts between 20 and 30 mph during the

time of the crash, Jeff Philo, NWS lead meteorologist, said.

" (The helicopter was likely) right on the sheer line between north and south

winds at that time, " Philo said. " If (the crash) were a weather-related problem,

it would have been from that. "

At the time of the crash, visibility was normal with 7 miles of sight and no

rain, Philo said.

The environment at the time of the crash " would create a lot of problems for a

helicopter, " Philo said.

" They (might have) made the flight across the leading edge of the cold front (on

the way to) South Padre Island, where they were going, " Philo said.

These weather conditions were extreme enough that the pilot would have been

about it before a flight, Philo said.

Rescue workers arrived at the scene after the crash and recovered the body of

Valley AirCare pilot Goss and paramedics , 38, of Weslaco and

T. of San Benito who were en route from Harlingen to South Padre

Island Tuesday night on an emergency call when bad weather forced them to abort

the mission, officials said after the crash.

Communication with the helicopter was lost and it's believed that the aircraft

went down at about 9:30 p.m. with the pilot and two paramedics on board,

according to a statement from the U.S. Coast Guard Tuesday.

Cameron County sheriff’s deputies and the Coast Guard responded to the crash

site, about 2.5 miles west of the South Padre Island Convention Centre and east

of Holly Beach.

Island officials have asked residents and visitors to notify Island police if

they find any debris from Tuesday's accident. Police can be contacted at

.

The crew of a Coast Guard Corpus Christi HU-25C rescue aircraft located the

downed helicopter's fuselage at around 11 p.m.

This is the second Valley AirCare helicopter crash in 10 years. On June 5, 1998,

a Valley AirCare helicopter crashed en route to an auto accident at the Starr

and Jim Hogg county line, killing three.

Investigators said that crash was caused by the pilot’s “continued flight

into adverse weather conditions,†according to Brownsville Herald archives.

Most of the Rio Grande Valley experienced high winds Tuesday, with gusts in

Brownsville reaching up to 40 miles per hour.

Re: Urgent-Valley AirCare

MissingWe just recieved word that The Rio Grande Valley's Medical Helicopter

based in Harlingen was lost from radar. Please keep these peronnel in your

prayers and pray that they are ok. Salvador Capuchino JrEMT-ParamedicAMR-Coastal

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