Investigators looking into the fatal medical helicopter crash in
the woods near Bradford Regional Airport late Friday night are
still trying to piece together what caused the aircraft to plunge
to the ground while on a refueling trip.

After a nearly two-day search, authorities on Sunday discovered
pilot Heinz Schulz, 59, of Erie, and the wreckage of his LifeStar
helicopter in the vicinity of Lindholm Road, which connects U.S.
Route 6 and Route 59 in Keating and Hamlin townships.

Schulz – who was the only occupant of the helicopter at the time
of the crash – died on impact of multiple trauma, according to
McKean County Coroner Mike Cahill.

“We have not heard anything at all yet,” Larry Pietropaulo,
president of CJ Systems Aviation Group of West Mifflin, said Monday
afternoon. “It’s really a little too soon and will probably be a
while yet. Investigators will look at every piece of evidence they
can to determine what happened, both the human aspect of it and the
environment.”

CJ Systems contracted to provide LifeStar service out of St.
Vincent and Hamot Medical centers in Erie. On the day of the
accident, Schulz, along with two other unidentified members of the
flight crew, were requested to take a patient from Kane Community
Hospital to Pittsburgh. Schulz dropped off the two other crew
members at the hospital to prepare a patient for the trip, and set
off on the five-minute flight to Bradford Regional to refuel.

Schulz lost radio contact with Cleveland Center at 11:41 p.m.
Friday after he indicated he was on final approach to the
airport.

A call seeking comment from the National Transportation Safety
Board was not immediately returned due to the Columbus Day holiday.
The NTSB’s Web site still had not listed a preliminary report on
the crash. Members of the NTSB and CJ Systems are the lead
investigators for the accident.

Pietropaulo said the helicopter was destroyed, and “would be
surprised” if investigators could quickly determine a cause.

“I would be surprised if something obvious comes up,”
Pietropaulo said. “Obviously, if they find a big piece of the
helicopter five miles away, that would mean something catastrophic
happened to it.”

Pietropaulo said Schulz had flown the route the helicopter took
Friday several times, adding “he was familiar with the area.”
Earlier, Pietropaulo said Schulz was a very experienced pilot,
logging more than 9,000 flight hours.

Officials said the helicopter apparently had enough fuel to
reach the airport, but was getting more for the return trip back to
Pittsburgh.

For his part, Cahill said Monday a toxicology report will be
done at the request of the NTSB.

“That is usually done on any pilot that dies in an aircraft
accident,” Cahill said, adding Schulz was discovered in the
helicopter Sunday. There was a fire at the time of impact,
officials said.

Chief Dennis Rankin of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office told
WKBW-TV in Buffalo, N.Y., the helicopter crashed and “slid a little
bit” underneath the trees. Authorities who took part in the search
also said the aircraft must have went straight down, in part,
because there was little damage to the trees or surrounding
area.

Meanwhile, LifeStar Program Director Cyndi Carter said the
downed helicopter was the agency’s lone aircraft.

“We have sister and neighboring programs and will roll flights
over to them,” Carter said. “They are picking up our flights right
now. We hope to be back in service when the crew and everybody
feels like being back there.”

Carter declined to reveal the identities of the flight nurse and
paramedic on board the flight along with Schulz.

According to Carter, the patient in Kane that was scheduled to
be transported to Pittsburgh was done so by ambulance, along with a
nurse, paramedic and EMS team.

Officials said the crew members – both employed by EmergyCare
Inc. of Erie – were driven from Kane back to the LifeStar facility
in Erie, while some of the LifeStar team assisted in the search for
Schulz.

Until a new helicopter is received, an aircraft from University
Hospital in Cleveland is slated to be placed at Brown Memorial
Hospital in Conneaut to handle calls in the Erie area and eastern
Ohio. LifeStar serves Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio, transporting
patients to hospitals in Erie, Pittsburgh, Rochester, N.Y., and
Buffalo.

Pietropaulo said a preliminary report into the crash will likely
come sometime between 10 days to two weeks from now, with a final
report being handed down in six months, depending on
circumstances.

All told, more than 250 people from several agencies across the
region combed the woods for Schulz and the helicopter over the
weekend.