Robert Miller, a former Air Force pilot and aviation crash investigator, speaks Thursday about the 1982 MedEvac helicopter crash near McKeansburg as Schuylkill County Coroner Dr. David Moylan, right, listens.
NEW PHILADELPHIA - Guidelines used by aircraft crash experts can also be used by death scene investigators in cases of vehicle crashes or suicides.
This is what Schuylkill County Coroner Dr. David Moylan hoped to bring out during a program Thursday presented by Robert Miller, a former Air Force pilot and aviation crash investigator.
Miller, presenting a program on the 1982 MedEvac helicopter crash near McKeansburg, explained how investigators work diligently to determine the cause of an airplane or helicopter crash using Software, Hardware, Environment, Liveware and Liveware Interfaces of Human Factors Safety Systems Resource Management, or the SHELL Conceptual Model.
Software includes training operations, air crew procedures, flight planning and weather while Hardware deals with flight controls checklists and more.
Environment deals with ease of operations of controls, stress management techniques for the crew and crew scheduling safe guards, including proper sleep and duty day limitations and duty-free periods.
Miller said the National Transportation Safety Board expands on the Liveware portion of SHELL and asks questions such as what were the activities of the pilot in the last 72 hours, his or her accident history, medication or drug use, workload, background and environment.
Also included are questions about any life changes the pilot may have gone through before the crash.
Among these questions are have there been any major changes in health, good or bad; major changes in financial status, good or bad; and major changes in personal life such as separation, death, divorce, birth or changes in the health of immediate family members or close friends.
Moylan said that these questions can also be beneficial locally when investigating incidents of suicide or car crashes.
He said when a man, woman or child decides to take their own lives, there are usually underlying factors that led to that action.
Being able to determine answers for the personal questions can give investigators a good idea what prompted the person to take such drastic action.
The same holds true for car crashes and can also incorporate the NTSB questions dealing with medication or drugs.
By checking a person's medical and psychological history theories can be formulated as to why the event occurred.
Miller said the 1982 crash of the Sacred Heart Hospital claimed the lives of pilot Jim Landis, 25, of Quakertown; flight nurse Jeanette Christ, 35, of New Tripoli; flight medic A. Riccobono, 24, of Allentown; and patient Leonard Edmonds, New Ringgold.
The helicopter took off from a field adjacent to Route 895 on the night of April 27, 1982, after picking up Edmonds who was a passenger in a car that crashed claiming the life of the driver, Scott Dillman, Orwigsburg. Two others were critically injured.
After taking off and traveling about 500 yards, the aircraft veered sharply downward and crashed in the field, bursting into flames and killing everyone on board.
Miller said the NTSB determined contributing factors in the crash were rainy and foggy weather conditions, the rising terrain around where the aircraft landed and pilot error.
Miller said that although he does not completely agree with the NTSB conclusion that pilot error was a main contributing factor, he is sure federal, state, insurance company and private experts conducted a thorough investigation of the crash.
This thorough investigation is what is needed by members of the coroner's office when called to certain on-scene death situations.
"I think we can incorporate this approach into investigations of more routine situations," Moylan said. "What we should be trying to answer at these incidents is 'what led up to this?' "
Story and photo: http://republicanherald.com
