Air Angels grounded indefinitely; 33 workers laid off
The Bolingbrook-based Air Angels ambulance service, involved in an October helicopter crash that killed four people in Aurora, laid off all 33 of its employees Thursday and ceased operation.
In a statement posted on the company's Web site, CEO Jim Adams announced the closing.
"Since the purchase of Air Angels in 2007, we have attempted to build a viable Midwest base of expansion and operation. Recent and ongoing events lead us to believe that our venture in Illinois is no longer viable," Adams wrote. "A great deal of effort, exploration and research has gone into making the difficult decision to close Air Angels. It is especially painful to make a business decision that requires not only the loss of employment of many people, but a reduction in valuable lifesaving services to their community, as well."
Representatives of Air Angels will be contacting regional hospitals, emergency medical services agencies, and other transport providers to assure both ground and air transportation for critically ill and injured patients will be uninterrupted.
Air Angels spokesman Bill Bradley declined comment, referring questions back to the statement on the Web site.
A report issued last month by the National Transportation Safety Board stated that a global positioning device used in the medical helicopter that crashed Oct. 15 was not equipped with a system that could detect terrain and warn of obstacles.
The helicopter was en route from Sandwich to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago when it apparently clipped a radio tower near Eola Road. Company officials told federal investigators the device was the pilot's primary source of navigation information.
There were seven fatal medical helicopter crashes last year that claimed 28 lives, up from two crashes in 2007 that killed seven people. The federal board has recommended medical helicopter companies install terrain warning systems in the aircrafts, but did not mandate it.
The board's report also outlined how the helicopter piloted by 69-year-old Indiana resident Del Waugh flew just below the top of a 734-foot-tall radio tower when it clipped the tower before the crash.
Investigators uncovered two different videos showing strobe lights on the tower operating at the time of theaccident, according to the report. The tower also appears on several regional aeronautical charts.
Waugh was killed in the crash along with flight nurse William Mann, 31, of Chicago; paramedic Ron Battiato, 41, of Peotone; and their 1-year-old patient, Kirstin Blockinger of Leland.
Kirstin's family has sued Air Angels and Waugh's estate over the girl's death. They are seeking unspecified damages in their lawsuit.
The family's attorney, Donald J. Nolan of the Nolan Law Group, released a statement Thursday afternoon regarding the company closing.
"It remains unfortunate that when Air Angels was purchased by REACH Medical Holdings of California following its tragic accident of 2003 that its expansion of business into Illinois was without implementation of safety recommendations of the United States government," Nolan wrote. "Since the privilege of doing business in Illinois is not one which carries the right to negligently cause the loss of life, it also remains unfortunate that the Air Angels failed to install software into the navigation equipment in the crashed helicopter and to follow the U.S. recommendations for use of an available terrain-avoidance warning system in the cockpit, which would have prevented this tragic occurrence."