GRAND RAPIDS (AP) -- The helicopter hovered above the roof of the downtown hospital when suddenly, inexplicably, it dropped hard and fast onto the helipad, crash-landing on its side.
The pilot and passenger got themselves out of the mangled aircraft, then worked their way down 15 or 20 feet to the base of the helipad as the helicopter burst into flames above them. The fire sent thick, dark billows of smoke high over the city skyline, where they could be seen for miles.
Crouching and shielding themselves from the burning mass of twisted metal overhead, the pair somehow managed to escape serious injury in Thursday's crash of the medical helicopter atop Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital.
No patients were on the helicopter, which went down around 11 a.m. and was destroyed.
"There's not a whole lot left, but you can tell it was a helicopter," Grand Rapids Fire Chief John VanSolkema said at a news conference.
Hospital employees rolled out some patients on gurneys and in wheelchairs, taking them to other buildings on the campus or to Ford Fieldhouse at nearby Grand Rapids Community College. They were temporarily evacuated from the top three floors over fears that fuel potentially had leaked from the crash site down elevator shafts, stairwells and through the roof. There was no immediate evidence of leakage.
Crash debris was found near the hospital but there were no reports of injuries or damage on the ground. It was unclear why the helicopter crashed or whether any structural damage had been done to the building, VanSolkema said.
The pilot and passenger suffered minor injuries and were listed in stable condition at the hospital, said Richard Breon, president and chief executive of Spectrum Health.
The pair, whom hospital officials declined to identify, got out of the helicopter just moments before it caught fire, the fire chief said.
The 14-year-old Sikorsky S-76 helicopter was operated by Spectrum Health's Aero Med transport service.
"We basically believe it was practicing approaches," said Elizabeth Isham Cory, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Chicago. Hospital officials declined to say what the helicopter was doing.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating, Cory said.
All surgeries at the hospital temporarily were canceled but pediatric surgeries were resumed later in the day, Breon said. It was unclear when Aero Med flights will be resumed.
"We're going to assess this on a day-to-day basis, on an hour-to-hour basis," said Matt VanVranken, president of Spectrum Health Grand Rapids.
Patients who were evacuated were later either returned to their original rooms or placed in other beds on the campus. None was injured while being moved, said hospital spokesman Bruce Rossman.
Patients awaiting discharge were held on the first floor of the hospital until roads leading to the facility were reopened to traffic other than emergency vehicles, he said. Power went out after the crash, but a backup generator quickly restored electricity.
Breon praised his employees, as well as city police and firefighters, for their handling of the situation.
"The key thing is, while we practice this a lot, is we want people to react in a calm manner, not run around and create panic where none is necessary," he said.
Kelli Wiltjer, a student aide in a Drug Enforcement Administration office nearby, said she looked out the window as the crash happened.
"The nose of the helicopter was kind of up and it almost looked like it was turning around, and then it dropped real fast," she said.
"Pieces were flying in the air" after the impact, said Wiltjer, 23.
Another witness was watching from her office in the nearby College of Nursing at Grand Valley State University, when she saw the helicopter come in from the south.
"We were standing here at the window ... and about five minutes later, we saw the black smoke," said Cheryl Borgman, 58, of Grand Rapids. "It was just a big huge billow of black smoke."
Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital, located in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids, is part of the largest campus of Spectrum Health, a nonprofit health care system based in western Michigan.
The hospital is the only Level 1 Trauma Center in Grand Rapids. Its emergency room was closed for several hours before being reopened to pediatric patients. It was expected to be reopened to older patients sometime Thursday evening.
------
Associated Press writers Ben Leubsdorf, David Runk and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this report.
Print this story
E-mail this story
