Hearings ‘just the beginning’ on helicopter EMS safety issue | Aviation International News

Hearings ‘just the beginning’ on helicopter EMS safety issue

At the conclusion of three-and-a-half days of NTSB public hearings on the safety of helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) operations early last mont

By AIN Staff • AIN Staff

February 27, 2009

At the conclusion of three-and-a-half days of NTSB public hearings on the safety of helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) operations early last month, Board member Robert Sumwalt summed up what several witnesses had already conceded, “There is no single magic bullet.”

As chairman of the hearing, Sumwalt concluded at the end that “this hearing is not the be all and end all; this is just the beginning.” He said the Board would
post an executive summary in several weeks after poring over testimony from 41 witnesses and wading through a docket of materials, adding that the NTSB might reopen this hearing. Witnesses included pilots, medical personnel, managers and the FAA.

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