Aurora helicopter crash kills Air Angels crew, child

Authorities looking at whether radio tower was properly lit at time of fatal crash

AURORA - The family of the girl killed in Wednesday night's helicopter crash issued a brief statement Thursday evening, thanking the community for its support and offering condolences to the families of the three Air Angels crew members who also died in the accident.

Steve Ogletree, grandfather of 14-month-old victim Kirstin Blockinger of Leland, spoke to the press briefly.

“We’d like to thank the community for their outpouring of support,” he said. “We’d like to express our condolences to the Air Angels crews and their families. I’d like to thank all the first responders, especially Leland and Somonauk.

“We love Kirstin and celebrate her life, however short,” he said. “We ask for privacy to mourn our loss at this time.”

The family then walked to the Aurora crash site, where Kirstin’s mother left pink roses at the scene. Some family members brought reeds from the field back with them.

Meanwhile, authorities are checking whether the WBIG radio tower near Eola Road and Liberty Street on the far East Side of Aurora was properly lit when the Air Angels helicopter clipped a support wire and crashed just before midnight Wednesday. Officials are also investigating whether the pilot was flying high enough and whether there were any mechanical problems.

The medical aircraft crashed and burned in the Night Heron Marsh Forest Preserve on the far East Side of Aurora after striking the radio tower.

John Brannen, with the National Transportation Safety Board, said the helicopter apparently clipped the radio tower support wire before the crash. A snapped wire could be seen hanging from the 734-foot tower that stands near the crash site.

Brannen said the helicopter was flying about 50 feet below the top of the tower when the wire was clipped. He said NTSB is investigating whether lights on the tower were on at the time or could have been knocked out during the incident.

"I can say that when I was out here last night after the accident that the lights on the tower were not lit," Brannen said Thursday. (See sidebar on NTSB investigation.)

The three Air Angels crew members killed in the crash were identified as pilot Dell Waugh, 69, of Carmel, Ind.; nurse William Mann, 31, of Chicago; and medic Ronald Battiato, 41, of Peotone. (See sidebar on Air Angels crew.)

Just before midnight, the Air Angels helicopter went down in a field while transporting the girl from Valley West Hospital in Sandwich to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. There were no survivors. Crews started removing wreckage from the scene Thursday afternoon.

"There's very little left of the aircraft itself," said Aurora Assistant Fire Chief John Lehman. "The impact was tremendous."

The helicopter clipped the radio tower just west of Eola Road near Liberty Street shortly before the crash, police said. It is not known what caused the crash.

Air Angels announced Thursday morning that it was suspending all operations pending investigation of the crash.

Sixteen apartments in the Amli subdivision near the WBIG radio tower were evacuated after the crash because of concerns that the long guy-wires that hold up the tower were unstable. Police advised residents again Thursday afternoon to stay away until the tower is stabilized.

Damage to the massive tower has prompted concerns about its stability, according to AMLI spokesman Dan Gladden. Police are manning the complex’s entrance to tell residents about the situation and suggest they vacate.

Gladden said one building, which houses about 20 apartments, remains off-limits to residents. Around 3 p.m. Thursday, a truck belonging to an antenna tower company arrived at radio station WBIG’s office. The tower belongs to the station.

Lehman said the tower belongs to 1280 WBIG-AM radio. Two of the tower's guy wires were involved in the crash and the top 20 feet of the tower were unstable. Lehman said authorities were worried the wires could damage nearby residences.

Engineers will be using a helicopter to begin repairs to the radio tower Friday, Aurora police said.

According to Valley West, the emergency department decided Wednesday to transfer Kirstin for a higher level of care to Children's Memorial Hospital via Air Angels helicopter. The Bell 222 helicopter took off at 11:15 p.m. headed for Chicago.

Officials said the girl was suffering from a seizure (see sidebar) and had been transported from her home to Valley West before being transported by Air Angels, a medical transport company that typically takes patients who are in serious condition to a larger hospital with more extensive trauma services.  The girl was initially to go to Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, but its pediatric intensive care unit was full.

Kirstin's mother was home at the time of Wednesday's seizures. Paramedics were called to their Railroad Avenue home at about 8:30 p.m., and Kirstin was rushed to Valley West Hospital before being airlifted, Hecathorn said.

The cause of her seizures has not been disclosed.

On Thursday, Kirstin's 2-year-old brother was being watched by friends.

Eva Blockinger, 89, of Leland, said Kirstin was her great-granddaughter and told The Associated Press that the girl was often ill and suffered from seizures.

"She was in and out of the hospital a lot," Blockinger said Thursday. "It was a regular occurrence."

At around 11:58 p.m. Wednesday, the helicopter clipped the radio tower. Firefighters thought it was unusual for the aircraft to be flying low enough to the hit the tower, which is typically lit.

Air Angels Director of Business Development Mike Dermont told CBS-2 that the helicopter that crashed had been in service for about eight years.

"We do approximately 40 to 50 transports a month with that aircraft," Dermont said. "It's been a workhorse. We've had no issue with it whatsoever."

The paramedics and registered nurses are employees of Air Angels who work 24 hours and then have three days off. Some of the nurses work at hospitals on those days off and the paramedics work at fire stations on their days off, Dermont said.

The pilots work 12-hour shifts for 7 days and then have 7 days off, Dermont said.

The Air Angels flight nurse and paramedic killed in the crash had been at Provena Mercy Medical Center in Aurora about 10 hours earlier to pick up a baby, according to a hospital staff member.

Dermont said he knew all the members of the crew personally.

"We're a very tight family at Air Angels, and I can say it's devastating," he said.

The company, Dermont said, always makes safety a No. 1 priority.

"We are very safe program," he said. "But we as an organization have to step back and look at all the factors. Is there something we could have done different? That process will start already this evening."

Although there was a significant amount of fuel in the area, the fire was out before 1 a.m., fire officials said. The helicopter ended about 100 feet east of Eola Road, but debris – marked by green glow sticks – was strewn about over a wide area.

"There was debris everywhere," said Aurora Sgt. Robb Wallers.

Thursday's accident was the 11th crash this year, and the sixth fatal one, involving medical helicopters nationwide, according to NTSB data.

By 1 a.m., police, fire and officials from the National Transportation Safety Board closed off the road for investigation. Eola Road has since been reopened.

Roughly a quarter-mile south of the crash site, a two-foot chunk of propeller lay in a twisted heap by the side of the road. It was merely the largest piece of debris in the area – the AMLI subdivision, on the southwest corner of Eola and Liberty, was pelted with smaller chunks of plastic and metal as the helicopter passed overhead.

By 1 a.m., towering light trucks illuminated the tall, grassy fields on the east side of Eola Road, police and fire crews worked through the early hours of the morning, wading through the underbrush to get to the wreckage. Police blocked off Eola Road at Indian Trail and Liberty Street, and staged their mobile command center in Jewel's parking lot at Eola and North Aurora Road.

Lehman said that some of the firemen knew the victims.

"It does hit close to home," he said.

Around 3:50 a.m., firefighters pounded on the doors of 16 apartments, waking up the residents. The worry, according to WBIG's engineer, was not that the top part of the tower would fall on the building, but that it would overshoot it, and the thick guy wires would cut through the apartments like a knife through butter.

Firefighters arranged for the subdivision's clubhouse to be used as a temporary shelter, although many residents chose to seek out hotel rooms. According to WBIG President Rick Jakle, a crew of steelworkers would attempt to stabilize the tower.

The first of those sleepy residents out the door were Erin Branam and her husband, Terry, each cradling one of their two large cats in their arms. As Erin Branam loaded the cats – Kitty and Cocoa Puff – into her car, she said the family would probably rent a hotel room, as they had nowhere else to stay. The Branams did not hear the helicopter crash.

Joe DiPaolo, manager of Clow International Airport in Bolingbrook, said Air Angels has its own office and hangar at the airport, separate from normal operations. He saw the pilot quite a bit, he said, but called him an "acquaintance."

"We would see them when they'd come and go, but day to day they pretty much kept to themselves," DiPaolo said.

Thursday morning, he said, he went to the Air Angels office to see if the airport could help.

"It's pretty somber down there," he said. "Considering what their jobs are, saving lives, it's a pretty sad thing."

Air Angels CEO Jim Adams

"We are deeply saddened to learn that one of our aircraft was involved in a fatal accident early this morning in Aurora, Illinois resulting in the loss of one patient and three crew members. The helicopter was transporting a patient from Sandwich to Chicago when it apparently struck the ground. There were no survivors.

"We extend our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the patient and our crew. Air Angels is working with the National Transportation Safety Board and FAA to investigate the cause of the accident and we will provide more information as it becomes available. Air Angels has more than 10 years experience of community-based, critical care transport experience and has cared for thousands of patients by providing life saving services throughout Illinois, Indiana and surrounding states."

Valley West Community Hospital

At 11:15 p.m. on October 15, 2008, Valley West Community Hospital Emergency department transferred a patient to Children’s Memorial Hospital via Air Angels helicopter for higher level of care. The patient was a 14-month old child. We are all very saddened by the en-route accident of the Air Angels helicopter that took the lives of the patient and crew.

Everyone at Valley West Community Hospital and KishHealth System extend our deepest sympathies to the family of the infant, as well as to the families of the Air Angels flight and medical teams.

Children's Memorial Hospital

Children’s Memorial Hospital extends its deepest sympathies to the families of the victims of the helicopter crash which occurred in west suburban Aurora Thursday morning. Three adult crew members and a one-year-old child were on board an Air Angels Helicopter flight bound for our hospital.

This accident, involving Air Angels, an independent emergency transport service, is now being investigated by the NTSB and the FAA.

The safety of our patients is our top priority. Effective immediately, we are suspending any further transports from Air Angels pending further investigation. Words cannot express the loss being suffered by the families of this child and the crew members. We hold them in our thoughts and prayers.

Aurora Police Department press release

AURORA, IL -- Three crewmen and a patient aboard an Air Angels medevac helicopter are dead as a result of a helicopter crash which took place late Wednesday evening in the DuPage County section of Aurora.

The helicopter crashed into a cornfield at the intersection of Eola Road and Liberty Street on the city's far east side.

At 11:58 p.m. Wednesday, the Aurora Police Department Dispatch Center received numerous phone calls in regard to a helicopter crashing into a cornfield just northeast of Eola Road and Liberty Street. Responding police and fire personnel arrived at the crash scene to find the helicopter engulfed in flames.

Police and fire personnel found four deceased victims at the crash site. The crash scene was taped off and secured by police pending an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. The Federal Aviation Authority also was contacted.

During the subsequent preliminary investigation it was learned that the Air Angels medevac helicopter crew were transporting a patient from Valley West Hospital in Sandwich to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. The crew consisted of three men and the patient, who was a 14-month old female. Evidence found at the scene led police to believe that the helicopter may have clipped a guide wire connected to a radio antennae tower of a radio station on the west side of Eola Road.

The members of the Air Angels flight crew that died as a result of the crash are: William Mann, 31, of Chicago; Dell Waugh, 69, of Carmel, Ind.; and Ronald Battiato, 41, of Peotone, Ill. The female patient on board the flight was Kirstian Blockinger of Leland, Ill.

The National Transportation Safety Board has taken over the investigation as the primary agency in charge. Senior Air Safety Investigator John Brannon is leading the investigation. The DuPage County Coroner's Office also assisted in the investigation.

• Photos: Kirstin laid to rest
• Photos: Workers fix radio tower
• Photos: Copter crash probe begins
• Photos: Family's mourning begins
• Photos: The victims
• Photos: Crash scene

• Twitter: Latest developments

• Map: Crash site

Tuesday stories

• Tears, rain fall as tiny crash victim buried 
• Flight nurse a hero: 'Gave his life for little baby'
• Hero's selfless final act offers some solace'

Monday stories

• NTSB gets surveillance video
• Leland girl killed in crash laid to rest

Sunday stories

• Close-knit town asks to mourn in private
• Work finishes on damaged radio tower

Saturday stories

• Tower work complete, residents may return
• In wind, rain, workers chop up radio tower
• Radio tower well-known to local pilots

Friday stories

• Radio tower dismantled after helicopter crash
• Family of tiniest victim mourns flight crew
• Helicopter crash probe could take months
• Residents evacuating apartments near tower
• Witnesses describe the fiery crash
• Air Angels: 'We look at what's best for the patient'
• FAA under pressure to improve safety for EMS flights
• Crash turns focus on air transport safety
• Helicopter crew remembered as heroes
• Shock settles on emergency response crews

Thursday stories

• Aurora helicopter crash kills Air Angels crew, child
• Friends speak of Air Angels crew's dedication
• Witness: Debris rained down from the sky
• NTSB investigating cause of crash
• Police ask residents near crash to evacuate
• Last Air Angels crash in Fox Valley 5 years ago