Utah nurse injured in helicopter crash

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The fatal collision of two helicopters in Flagstaff was the ninth accident involving emergency medical aircraft this year, the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday, calling it a "disturbing trend."

"This has been a serious issue. We're very concerned about that," NTSB chairman Mark Rosenker told reporters in Flagstaff. "We're going to work very, very hard to make sure we understand exactly what happened here, determine the probable cause and make recommendations to prevent it from happening again."

Rosenker and NTSB investigators arrived in Flagstaff on Monday to begin probing the crash, a process that's expected to take several months to complete.

The helicopters — one owned by a Woods Cross company — crashed Sunday afternoon while ferrying patients to Flagstaff Medical Center, killing six people and critically injuring a Salt Lake nurse.

The news rocked Intermountain Healthcare, where the injured nurse, James Taylor, 36, of Salt Lake City has worked for 17 years first as a physical therapist and then an emergency department nurse, and St. Mark's Hospital, where he has worked in the emergency department for four months.

"He's developed an awful lot of friendships," said hospital spokeswoman Kathleen Murphy, who said the staff was shaken and upset by the accident. "We had a prayer service for him this morning. He's a very skilled RN (registered nurse). He was doing what he loved and we're just hoping that he's OK. Everyone here is grieving."

She said he also works as an air ambulance nurse. It was in that capacity that he was injured.

Rosenker says officials will look at similarities between the Flagstaff collision and one involving two news helicopters in Phoenix last year to identify any potential safety gaps. Four people died in the Phoenix crash last July.

NTSB spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz said 16 people have died in EMS helicopter accidents so far this year. Helicopters accounted for six of the nine accidents of EMS aircraft this year that either caused serious injury to people on board or damage to the aircraft.

On Sunday, one helicopter was coming in from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and another from the nearby community of Winslow, said Capt. Mark Johnson, a spokesman for the Flagstaff Fire Department.

After the crash, an unidentified bystander helped one person get out of one of the helicopters before emergency workers arrived and removed two others, Johnson said. It was unclear whether any of those people were the sole survivor.