MEDFLIGHT OF OHIO - Non-injury incident

DATE		6/21/03 0330 

PROGRAM		MEDFLIGHT OF OHIO

ADDRESS
		2827 W. Dublin Granville Rd.
Columbus, OH 43235

WEATHER		Clear. Not a factor

AIRCRAFT_TYPE	KING AIR 200

TEAM		2 PILOTS, NURSE, PARAMEDIC. No injuries reported.
Patient on board. 

DESCRIPTION	While on a flight from Ohio to New York, about 40
		miles SW of Buffalo, at an altitude of 33,000',
		the crew heard a "pop" in the aircraft.  The
		captain's interior windshield (two layers),
		cracked into a shattered pattern but stayed
		intact.  The captain and co-pilot summoned the
		nurse/medic team to make sure their seatbelts
		were secure and proceeded to make an emergency
		descent to below 25,000' to reduce the
		pressurization differential to below 4.6 PSI. 
		They made a precautionary landing at Buffalo, NY,
		176 miles short of the intended destination of
		Ogdansburgh, NY.  The captain had sufficient
		visibility through the windshield to land the
		aircraft safely otherwise the co-pilot would have
		handled the landing.  The incident occurred with
		the windshield heat "on" with the outside air
		temperature at about 40 below zero F. 
		Appropriate cabin pressure was maintained
		throughout the descent with no adverse affects on
		the crew.  Because the aircraft was not capable
		of continuing the medical transport flight; Stat
		Medevac of Pittsburgh's aircraft was chartered to
		pick up the MedFlight team and proceed to
		complete the transport.

ADDITIONAL INFO	Both windshields had been inspected within the
		past 10 days and showed no signs of stress or
		delaminating.  Both windshields are in the
		process of being replaced at an FBO in Buffalo. 
		Raytheon Aircraft abnormal procedures bulletins
		indicate the pilots followed their recommended
		procedures to a "T".  Interestingly enough, the
		bulletin advises "continued flight with a cracked
		windshield is limited to 25 hours".

SOURCE		Rod Crane, President/CEO MedFlight of Ohio

VIA		Roseanne Krantz, CONCERN
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The CONCERN network shares verified information to alert medical
transport programs when an accident / incident has occurred.
Please share the above information with your program staff. If
you have further questions, please contact the CONCERN Coordinator,
Roseann Krantz @ 1-800-75-SHOCK or rjkrantz@aol.com.