An Erie man was killed late Friday night when the LifeStar
medical helicopter he was piloting crashed into a heavily wooded
area south of Bradford Regional Airport while on a refueling
mission. The wreckage of the aircraft was discovered by searchers
Sunday afternoon after a nearly two-day search.
Authorities said Heinz Schulz, 59, an 18-year veteran pilot, was
the only occupant of the Agusta 109 Power helicopter, which had
just dropped off two other members of the flight crew at Kane
Community Hospital to prepare a patient for a rescue flight. Schulz
then went to refuel the helicopter and lost radio contact with the
ground at 11:41 p.m. Friday.
Schulz was found dead at 1:15 p.m. Sunday, about five miles
southeast of Bradford Regional in the vicinity of Lindholm Road
after a massive search effort. Lindholm Road connects U.S. Route 6
and Route 59 in Keating and Hamlin townships.
McKean County Coroner Mike Cahill ruled the cause of death
multiple trauma, adding that Schulz died instantaneously.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were
headed to the area Sunday afternoon and the cause of the crash was
not immediately available. A call seeking comment from the agency’s
Parsipanny, N.J., regional office was not returned Sunday
night.
Schulz was employed by CJ Systems Aviation Group of West
Mifflin, which contracted to provide the LifeStar service out of
St. Vincent and Hamot Medical centers in Erie. The two other
members of the flight crew – a flight nurse and paramedic – are
employed by EmergyCare Inc. of Erie.
Local authorities referred all calls to CJ Systems.
On Sunday afternoon, Larry Pietropaulo, president of CJ Systems,
said Schulz had more than 9,000 flight hours as a pilot, and had
worked with LifeStar since 1988 and CJ Systems since 1990.
“He was a very senior and experienced pilot,” Pietropaulo said,
adding Shulz was flying the helicopter using its instruments
because of the foul weather in the Bradford area Friday night. “It
was rather routine and there was no indication that this would
happen.”
At the time of the crash, there was a light mist in the air and
temperatures hovered around 50 degrees. Pietropaulo said the crash
scene could hardly be seen from the air, in part, due to the heavy
canopy of trees in that area.
“(Authorities) had some reports there was a helicopter flying
low and had crashed from some citizens,” Pietropaulo said. “It was
decided to follow the localizer track where he was flying. (Schulz)
had an approach course on Runway 32. (The searchers) just followed
that back and found him not too far back from there.”
LifeStar Program Director Cyndi Carter said it was the first
crash of this nature in the agency’s 20-year history. LifeStar is a
regional critical care ground and air transport and a division of
EmergyCare.
According to Carter, LifeStar was requested to take a patient
from Kane Community Hospital to Pittsburgh. Schulz dropped the
flight team off at the hospital before making the five-minute
flight to Bradford Regional Airport to refuel.
Officials said Schulz took off from Kane at 11:36 p.m. en route
to the airport, losing radio contact with Cleveland Center at 11:41
p.m. Schulz had indicated to the center that he was on final
approach before contact was lost.
It was not immediately clear if Schulz gave any indication on
whether there were mechanical problems with the helicopter. The
Associated Press reported Sunday the Italian-made helicopter had
been in service for about three years and there were no reported
maintenance problems associated with it.
According to a Web site from the University of California-Davis
Health System, the helicopter has a cruising speed of 184 mph and a
service ceiling of 16,000 feet, allowing it to operate at higher
altitudes with virtually no loss of speed or power.
Two hundred and fifty people combed the woods Saturday, but to
no avail. An incident command center was located at the Hilltop
Volunteer Fire Department’s fire hall in Cyclone. Another search
began early Sunday morning and proved successful in finding Schulz
and the aircraft.
Another medical helicopter from Pittsburgh was moved to Erie and
will be used to cover calls.
“There has been a tremendous amount of support from the
community and the region,” Carter said, adding LifeStar serves the
tri-state area of Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio transporting
patients to hospitals in Erie, Pittsburgh, Rochester, N.Y., and
Buffalo, N.Y., among others.
Pietropaulo said NTSB investigators and members of CJ Systems
will be handling the probe into the crash. He added a preliminary
report usually takes 10 days to two weeks, with a final report
being handed down in six months, depending on circumstances.
Officials said Schulz is survived by his wife, Linda.
The last fatal aviation accident in the Bradford area occurred
in 2002, when a twin-engine Piper airplane piloted by Dr. Paul
Keverline crashed near the Lindholm Road. Keverline was returning
from an elk hunting trip in New Mexico when the plane went down in
Kinzua Bridge State Park. The wreckage was later found after a
search.
Chuck Dickinson, incident command center coordinator for the
Hilltop fire department said units from Tidioute, EmergyCare,
Cornplanter Search and Rescue, Hilltop, Lafayette Township,
Smethport, Otto Township, the City of Erie, Harborcreek and the
City of Bradford, along with the Erie County (Pa.) Sheriff’s
Department were involved in the search. Others also helping out
were all-terrain vehicle units from Youngsville, North Hickory, the
Allegheny Trail Riders and McKean County ATV Traction Club.
C.L. McKeirnan of Smethport provided buses for the
searchers.
Also, officials said helicopters for the aerial search included
Stat MedEvac, the Erie County (N.Y.) Sheriff’s Department,
Cattaraugus County (N.Y.) Sheriff’s Department and the Pennsylvania
State Police. Meanwhile, fire police handled traffic control on
Route 646.
(Era Correspondent Fran De Lancey and The Associated Press
contributed to this report.)
