(ole) The wreckage on the mountain nearby Halbeswig is visible even from a long distance. Scattered parts and a burnt engine lay in between fir forests and a quarry. On Saturday around 2:30 pm a rescue helicopter of the type Bell 222 SP crashed there. A farmer heard a loud noise during his work, then the rotor blades of the helicopter became silent. All three passengers died when they crashed against the 620 meters tall mountain “Auf der Burg” (“At the castle”.) The police and fire department were looking for the crash site in the impassable area for nearly an hour. At the scene of the accident they were expected by a horrible scene. The helicopter broke in the middle and it’s engine was nearly completely burnt. The 42 year old pilot, the 31 year old paramedic and the 38 year old emergency doctor were instantly dead. The team was on their return flight from a rescue mission.
HELICOPTER CRASHES IN A STORM
All three passengers instantly dead - Reason: Human error - The team was on their way back to Berlin
Picture caption: Only debris is left behind of the rescue helicopter, which crashed on Saturday Afternoon in the woodland near Halbeswig. In misty conditions and during a storm the pilot crashed with his machine against the mountain “Auf der Burg”. All three passengers died in this accident.
By Oliver Eickhoff
Translated by Virginia Gancarczyk
Bestwig. The Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (“Federal Aviation Office”) in Brunswick is assuming human error to be the cause of the crash. Due to examinations can a technical failure be excluded, announces the authority on request of the WP. The machine crashed with a speed of 150 kilometers per hour in a 70° angle in front of the mountain.
According to the Kriminalpolizei (“criminal police”) Dortmund the pilot of the crashed aircraft was considered to be an experienced man. Possibly him and his team were surprised by a heavy storm in the Sauerland, which was raging during the time of the crash. At the same time fog was rising. The view was, according to the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt, only 30 meters.
On Saturday the woods around the scene of the accident were shut of for nearly seven hours. Especially the fire department had to close off the ways, because there weren’t enough police forces available. The Kriminalpolizei Dortmund and the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt Brunswick picked up their investigations in the late afternoon. The investigations still lasted on the next day. The area was released again on Sunday noon.
The helicopter belonged to a private company, which wants to make the salvage in the next days, depending on the weather. Because of the impassable area, some of the remains of the helicopter can only be salvaged from the air.