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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) -- A federal probe into the midair collision of two medical helicopters near a northern Arizona hospital that killed seven people last year places the blame on both pilots.
The pilots failed to see and avoid each other, a primary pilot responsibility, according to the National Transportation Safety Board report released on Friday.
Contributing to that error were one pilot's failure to contact the hospital's communications center as required and the other pilot's decision to approach from the south instead of along the normal flight path from the east.
The two helicopters were approaching Flagstaff Medical Center on the afternoon of June 30, each carrying a patient. They hit about a half-mile from the hospital and crashed into a forested area. All seven aboard the two aircraft died.
One had landed at a nearby airport to drop off a passenger before approaching the hospital from the south. That pilot contacted the hospital's communications center, but followed an unusual flight path. The pilot approaching from the east didn't radio in but approached from the normal direction.
The report said the pilots were probably focused on landing in the second before they collided and never knew the other was in the area or saw the other aircraft.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it was only the second midair crash involving a medical helicopter in the past 25 years, and the first that involved two medical aircraft.
It was among a series of nine medical chopper crashes since December 2007 that killed 35 people and led to increased scrutiny of the industry by federal regulators.
Killed in the crash were Michael MacDonald, 26, of Browning, Mont., an injured firefighter being taken to the hospital, flight nurse Shawn "Clyde" Shreeve Jr., 36, of Flagstaff, patient Raymond Zest, 55, from Winslow, Ariz., pilot Patrick Graham, 51, of Flagstaff, pilot Tom Caldwell, 54, of Page, flight medic Tom Clausing, 36, of Leavenworth, Wash., and flight nurse James Taylor, 36, of Salt Lake City.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
