GEORGETOWN, DELAWARE (8/6/2016) The National Transportation Safety Board has issued a preliminary report in the death of Lewes firefighter Tim McClanahan during a training exercise at Delaware Coastal Airport near Georgetown last month.
McClanahan, 46, fell from a Delaware State Police helicopter about 6:50 p.m. on July 11.
Three others – the pilot, trooper medic and another firefighter – aboard the Bell 429 model helicopter were not injured and there was no damage to the aircraft.
“The purpose of the flight was for an emergency response team to complete recurrent rescue hoist training. The three-person team consisted of a rescue specialist, a system operator, and a safety officer. After the rescue specialist was lowered from the helicopter, the helicopter landed, and the rescue specialist would then reboard the helicopter,” according to the report.
“The team members periodically rotated positions and duties, and a different team member would then be lowered as the rescue specialist. The security of each member’s safety harness was checked before each takeoff,” the report said.
The flight when McClanahan was killed was the seventh of the day and the first where he acted as the system operator.
“After the restraints were checked and verified secure, the helicopter lifted off the ground, moved to the practice area, and then the system operator requested and was granted permission to move to the helicopter skid. The system operator stepped onto the skid, and then fell from the helicopter,” the NTSB report said.
The pilot landed immediately and the two others aboard initiated patient care on McClanahan. He was taken to Beebe Healthcare’s hospital in Lewes, where he was pronounced dead.
The hook and restraint system were retained for further examination, the report said.
No other details were included in the preliminary report. Any conclusions of the investigation are typically included in a final NTSB report which may take a year or more to be completed.
The Bell 429 helicopter involved in the fatality, designated with the registration number N1SP, was one of two of that model put in service by the state police in November 2014.
McClanahan was a former assistant chief in the Lewes Fire Department and had joined the Delaware Air Rescue Team in 2010. He had previously been a member of the Milton and Rehoboth Beach volunteer fire companies.
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