A BABY girl has made an adventurous start to life being born in the back of a rescue helicopter in central Queensland.

An RACQ — CQ Rescue Helicopter spokesman said they were flying the mother back to the mainland from Hamilton Island at 7.09am (AEST) this morning when she was delivered.

"Flight paramedic Mel Bernas delivered the baby while the aircraft was on descent into Mackay airport only 14 minutes prior to landing," the spokesman said.

The board’s report, released Friday, lists the probable cause as “the pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from trees along the top of a ridgeline due to inadequate preflight planning, insufficient altitude, and the lack of a helicopter terrain awareness and warning system.”
However, one member of the five-person safety board voted against adopting the report and wrote in a dissenting opinion that more blame should be placed on a lack of training resources available to the pilot by his employer, Denver-based Air Methods, which leased the helicopter to Med Flight.
An Air Methods spokesman rejected the assertion and called the report’s overall conclusions “disappointing.”

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

CALGARY — A former employee has admitted she defrauded an Alberta air-ambulance service of $210,600 over 13 months, as well as a pipeline-inspection company of $54,800 over four months.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A memorial service is set for Tuesday to remember members of a medical helicopter crew who were killed when the aircraft crashed near Scotland earlier this week.

The board wants the FAA to require EMS helicopter operators to install Terrain Awareness Warning Systems (TAWS) on helicopters.

WASHINGTON - An accident this week in Arkansas has boosted to 21 the number of people that have been killed so far this year in medical helicopter and plane crashes, renewing concerns about the safety of such operations.

TUCSON, Ariz.-- One medical helicopter down, three crew members dead. It's a horrific scene many people witnessed in Tucson in July and now a recent crash in Arkansas has elevated the concern for helicopter safety.

Van Buren County - National Transportation Safety Board investigators are back on the scene of Tuesday's deadly helicopter crash near Scotland. A Van Buren County Sheriff's spokesman says the safety organization plans another briefing on the crash on Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m.

Family and friends in Center Ridge spent Wednesday remembering one of the victims of Tuesday's medical chopper crash in Van Buren County. Kenny Meyers was described as a loving husband and father of four. Speaking exclusively with Channel 7 News, his wife Dona said, "Ken was the most wonderful and kind and compassionate husband and father.

The doctor and his "students" peered at 13-year-old Jon-Michael Kirksey of Lago Vista, observed his bandaged, broken wrist and, like sleuths, evaluated the evidence before them. Starting at the patient's head and working down to his toes, Jim Allday, chief clinical supervisor for STAR Flight , examined the patient at Dell Children's Medical Center on Wednesday under the watchful eye of Dr. Pat Crocker, chief of emergency medicine.