Last month’s annual meeting of the Association of Air Medical Services was its usual low-key success as some 2,500 aeromedical professionals, a record number, assembled in the Kansas City (Mo.) Convention Center for three days of conferences and trade show exhibition. In a gathering of what is probably the most highly networked aviation environment outside of the military, old friends met, new friends were made and deals were struck within the framework of an ambitious schedule of seminars, lectures, professional development courses and the presentation of scholarly papers.
But what was on everyone’s mind was safety, thoughts centering on the alarming recent increase in aeromedical accidents, an echo of previous upswings in the accident rate in decades past. In 1998 the industry saw the beginning of a significant upswing in the numbers of aeromed accidents. Beginning with nine mishaps in 1998 and trending upward to 13 accidents last year (data for 2002, while partial, shows five accidents recorded as of September 30), those accidents have resulted in 52 fatalities. The 13 fatalities in both 1998 and this year so far make for the deadliest years for aeromed operations since 1991, when 17 fatalities were recorded.
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