Life Flight - Non-injury incident

Date: 1/12/08 0815 mt

Program: Life Flight
	St. Patrick Hospital
	500 W. Broadway
	Missoula, Montana 59802

Type: AStar 350 B3
Tail #: N911MT
Operator/Vendor: Metro Aviation

Weather: Clear. Not a factor

Team: Pilot, Flight Nurse, and Flight  Paramedic. No injuries reported. No patient. 

Description: 
	This incident occurred at 08:17 on 1/12/2008.  The crew had just
	repositioned the helicopter to an alternate helipad that we use to
	escape the local valley fog that sometimes covers our primary hospital
	helipad. After landing, shutting down and exiting the aircraft, the
	crew plugged in the Tanis heaters and the other external shore line
	used to charge equipment, using a helipad outlet that we had used many
	times in the past.  Almost immediately, the crew noticed black smoke
	exiting around the external exhaust.  A small flame was seen by the
	pilot under the cowling below the main rotor. Both extension cords
	were unplugged and the pilot emptied the onboard, hand held  Halon
	fire extinguisher into the transmission compartment. No other flames
	were seen after that point. The fire department was called.  They
	arrived five minutes later and their thermal heat scanner could detect
	no hot spots. The mechanic's inspection found that three of the six
	Tanis heaters were "fried".  No other damage was found on the
	helicopter and after replacing the fire extinguisher it was placed
	back into service later that day.
	Upon inspection by an electrician, it was found that the 110v outlet
	that the helicopter was plugged into was actually producing 220v.  The
	exact cause for this malfunction is not known due to the buried cable
	and wintertime conditions.  The electrical lines were replaced and
	operational the following day.

Source: Larry Peterman, CFN

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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, David Kearns at 800 525 3712 or email:
coordinator@concern-network.org.

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