Probe continues into Aurora copter crash

As hundreds prepare to gather to remember four lives lost, investigators dissecting the deadly Aurora helicopter crash continue seeking clues to its cause.

Authorities Wednesday said a security camera mounted at a train station showed a set of strobe warning lights on the radio tower was flashing Oct. 15 just before the medevac copter clipped one of the structure's support wires and crashed into a field on the east side of Eola Road.

"The flashing of the lights cease at the approximate time of the accident - 11:58 p.m.," said John Brannen, the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge.

The footage was captured by a security camera positioned at the Metra commuter parking lot on Route 59. Investigators said part of the view is obstructed, however, because of a canopy over the train platform.

As a result, they are unable to determine if the tower's second set of strobe lights was functioning properly, too.

The Air Angels helicopter flew by on its way to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago from Valley West Hospital in Sandwich. The video images were not clear enough to capture the aircraft.

The ill-fated crew - pilot Del Waugh, 69, of Carmel, Ind; nurse William Mann, 31, of Chicago; and paramedic Ron Battiato, 41, of Peotone - was transporting 14-month-old Kirstin Blockinger of LeLand. All four aboard were killed.

Brannen said NTSB investigators also are looking into conflicting weather reports. Authorities at Aurora and DuPage airports reported clear skies, while those at O'Hare and Lewis Lockport airports reported cloud cover.

Moreover, investigators are awaiting the pilot's autopsy and toxicology reports, some of which are being generated at the Federal Aviation Authority's medical flight center in Oklahoma and may take months.

So far, though, radar plots show the chopper was flying level at around 1,400 feet - low but still within the legal limit - before clipping one of the tower's support wires. Authorities said that indicates, at least preliminary, that the pilot was not experiencing a medical emergency.

As investigators continue their work, a memorial service is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Aurora.

City officials arranged for shuttle buses to pick up passengers at the Westfield Fox Valley Mall, in the parking lot off Entrance #4, starting at 9 a.m. to transport mourners to the church at 701 S. Eola Road. After the 90-minute service, a procession will drive past the crash site.