OSF Life Flight - Non-injury incident

Date: 11-17-11 22:00 CST

Program: OSF Life Flight
	1400 South Johanson Road
	Peoria, IL

Type: Bell 230
Tail #: N88OSF
Operator/Vendor: OSF Aviation

Weather: Clear. Not a factor

Team: Pilot, RN x2. No injuries reported. No patient. 

Description: 
	While landing at the Memorial Medical Center helipad in Springfield,
	Illinois, the following incident took place. As the aircraft touched
	down on the 8th floor helipad, the pilot started to reduce power. The
	aircraft suddenly dropped to the left, unexpectedly striking its left
	side sponson/wing on the helipad and spun approximately 90 degrees.
	The pilot was able to stop the aircraft and performed an immediate
	shut down. After the blades had stopped the crew exited the aircraft
	with no injuries. Upon further examination it was discovered that the
	left rear landing gear had broken through a grate on the helipad and
	sank 3 feet into a drainage hole. This had caused the aircraft to
	suddenly drop and strike its sponson as well as rotate the aircraft
	around 90 degrees with the landing gear stuck in the drainage hole.
	There was noted sponson and landing gear damage. There were no blade
	strikes or other damage noted to the aircraft. The crew arranged for
	the patient to be transferred by another transport service without
	delay. The site was secured and the FAA and IDOT were made aware of
	the incident and performed their investigations the next day. After
	consulting with Bell Helicopter it was decided the safest thing was to
	remove the aircraft from the rooftop pad with a crane to further asses
	any damage. The aircraft was lifted off 2 days later due to high winds
	and placed on a flat bed truck where it was brought back to a major
	maintenance facility. We are awaiting a full damage report at this
	time.

Additional Info: 
	The staff was offered counseling immediately and all governing
	entities completed their reports. We are currently making changes to
	our PAIP plan as well as our safety reporting system.

Source: Brent Grady- Executive Director OSF Aviation

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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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