Helicopter crash in Illinois - deicing problem?

Hi Guys, I don't know much about helicopters, but maybe someone who flies them professionally can comment. This morning I got an email from a guy in our Chicago office whose wife is part of the flight crew for the Rockford Memorial Hospital rapid response medical helicopter service in Illinois. Luckily his wife was not on duty last night, but unfortunately her co-workers all perished in the accident. He said that the cause of the crash has been cited as icing, although it is not yet mentioned in the early news reports. Do choppers have de-icing systems or are they at the mercy of a spraydown while sitting on the tarmac?

Here's the info on the crash:

7:49AM EST December 11. 2012 - ROCHELLE, Ill. (AP) — Hospital officials say a pilot and two nurses were killed when a medical helicopter crashed in a field while traveling between two northern Illinois hospitals.

Rockford Memorial Hospital identified those killed as pilot Andy Olson and flight nurses Karen Hollis and Jim Dillow. In a news release Tuesday, officials at Rockford Memorial Hospital say they are grieving for "three heroes who dedicated their careers to serving others."

No patients were aboard when the helicopter went down Monday night in Rochelle, about 70 miles west of Chicago. A spokesman for the Rockford hospital says its helicopter was flying to pick up a patient at a Mendota hospital.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Tony Molinaro says the FAA is helping the National Transportation Safety Board investigate to determine what caused the crash.

 

Ron, thanks for posting their pictures. While talking to our guy in Chicago today (John), he told me Andy Olesen was just a few months away from retiring. John's wife had flown with Andy for 9 years and they never had any problems in flight. Andy had an excellent safety record and that gave the crew a tremendous amount of confidence and security on every flight. The entire hospital staff is stunned over this loss and it comes at a particularly tough time (holidays) for the families of the 3 deceased crew members.

Today I said a prayer for every emergency response team that puts their life in danger to help others. When something like this happens, there is no amount of money in the world that can bring these people back to life and home to their families.

-Greg

 

John or David (Phrogs & rovngtravler):

I have to be careful what I post here because this is a public forum and there is an ongoing FAA investigation.

Let's say hypothetically you are flying at night or in low light conditions, your helicopter is not equipped with night vision glasses, and you encounter light snow. Other than turning around and going back to an area where the weather is acceptable for visual meteorological conditions, is there anything else you are trained to do as standard operating procedure?

I am a working on my private pilot's license in fixed wing aircraft, so I am asking questions just to learn more about the differences between planes and helicopters. I am NOT questioning any of the decisions made by the pilot, who, by all accounts, had a significant amount of experience.

-Greg