ALERT returns Dec. 11

The Daily Inter Lake

The ALERT helicopter crew expects to go airborne again with a leased helicopter the week of Dec. 11.

Spokesman Jim Oliverson said ALERT has leased a Bell 407 helicopter, the same model as the aircraft that was severely damaged in a crash Nov. 2 near the helipad at Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

No one was injured in the emergency landing after the engine failed in flight.

Oliverson said the hospital expects to lease the helicopter for several months while ALERT waits to find out if the damaged helicopter can be repaired.

A new helicopter would cost more than $2 million and could not be delivered until fall 2009.

"A structural engineer has been here and examined the airframe and could find nothing outwardly wrong," Oliverson said.

He said Bell experts will test the frame on a specialized jig before certifying it as airworthy. If the frame is sound, all the moving parts will be replaced in the repair.

Oliverson said the engine was torn down Tuesday in Indianapolis while officials from the National Safety Transportation Board looked on. It's part of the effort to find the cause of the catastrophic engine failure that caused the crash.

Safety board officials say the investigation will take at least six months.

Oliverson said the leased helicopter will go first to an Federal Aviation Administration-qualified center to have the litter-loading system installed. The system allows the crew to slide the litter carrying the patient along a track, eliminating jostling of the injured person.

"It slides forward, then turns and nestles into a spot behind the pilot," Oliverson said.