ALERT awaits federal probe

By CHERY SABOL

The Daily Inter Lake

The Federal Aviation Administration won't arrive until Monday for its investigation into Thursday night's ALERT helicopter crash.

No one was hurt when the helicopter returned to its pad soon after takeoff. Pilot Addison Clark was able to land the helicopter upright, although the engine reportedly seized up and a small fire was visible on the aircraft.

Kalispell Regional Medical Center administrator Jim Oliverson said he doesn't know how long the hospital will be without its air ambulance.

"I can't tell you if it will be a couple of weeks or a couple of months," he said.

His phone started ringing Friday with offers of backup helicopters.

"There is a wonderful fraternity of folks out there," Oliverson said. He was sorting through offers Friday.

"We want one exactly the same as what we have," he said, because ALERT pilots are all checked out to fly the Bell 407 model.

It's not novel for the hospital to be without its helicopter. Routine maintenance on the machine frequently puts it out of commission for up to two weeks at a time. In those cases, helicopter services from Spokane, Missoula and Great Falls are used.

Oliverson said the public responded with disappointment to news of the crash.

"It is very important to the people in this valley," he said.

The helicopter took off at about 9 p.m. Thursday for a flight to Bigfork where a patient was having chest pains.

Within a minute or two, a warning light was illuminated and Clark turned back to the hospital. He landed the helicopter skillfully with no engine power, taking out part of a chain-link fence and clipping a parked car, but avoiding buildings in the hospital complex.

The Bigfork patient was taken by ground ambulance to the hospital, Oliverson said.

ALERT has been lauded through the years for its safety record.