Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Flights

EMS flights use both helicopters and small airplanes to transport seriously ill or injured patients to emergency facilities. EMS flights also transport donor organs, such as in the crash of the University of Michigan organ transport team in June 2007. In 2008 alone, there were seven fatal EMS helicopter crashes.

These flights are operated on demand and frequently take off, fly and land in less than favorable conditions. This type of aviation operations can be dangerous due to elements such as inclement weather, nighttime flights and unfamiliar locations. In January 2006, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued and adopted a special investigation report identifying additional strategies to help ensure that the EMS flights are conducted with the utmost care and depart, function and arrive safely.

The Motley Rice aviation team is experienced in litigating EMS crashes and continues to fight for safer skies for all flights, from commercial passenger service to emergency flight service. Our team fights for the crew members and medical personnel on these flights as well as for those individuals requiring emergency medical attention.

A January 2006 NTSB report highlighted 55 EMS flight crashes between January 2002 and January 2005. Of those 55 crashes, 41 were helicopter accidents resulting in 39 fatalities and 14 were airplane accidents resulting in 15 fatalities.

The steady increase in EMS accidents between 1990 and 2005 may be attributed to the increase in flight hours, from 162,000 flight hours in 1991 to approximately 300,000 in 2005. The NTSB report shows that whereas the average accident rate was 3.53 accidents per 100,000 flight hours between 1992 and 2001, it rose to 4.56 accidents per 100,000 flight hours between 1997 and 2001.

The NTSB’s special investigation determined that the four most frequent safety issues in the 55 accident aircraft included:

• less stringent requirements for EMS operations conducted without patients on board
• lack of aviation flight risk evaluation programs for EMS operations
• lack of consistent, comprehensive flight dispatch procedures for EMS operations
• no requirements to use technologies such as terrain awareness and warning systems (TAWS) to enhance EMS flight safety

Contact Us

If you or someone you know is interested in seeking legal recourse due to wrongful death or personal injury as a result of an EMS flight crash, please contact Motley Rice aviation attorney and former Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo by email or call +1 800.868.6456.