Safety board: FAA too slow to act on medical chopper crashes

WASHINGTON -- A federal safety panel says aviation officials aren't acting quickly enough on proposals to prevent crashes of emergency medical helicopters.

The five-member National Transportation Safety Board in January 2006 urged the Federal Aviation Administration to improve the safety of such flights.

The safety board wanted the FAA to evaluate flight risks, require onboard crash-warning technology and set policies for securing weather updates.

At a meeting Tuesday, the safety board acknowledged that the FAA is working on the proposals, but not quickly enough.

Over the past 11 months, nine emergency medical helicopters have crashed, killing 35 people. In Illinois this month, three medical helicopter crew members and a 1-year-old girl died when their helicopter crashed in Aurora.