'Once a member of this family, always a member'

County firefighters are mourning the loss of a former colleague killed early Sunday in the medevac helicopter crash in Prince George's County.

Trooper 1st Class Mickey Lippy, 34, of Westminster was one of four people killed when a Maryland State Police helicopter went down in Walker Mill Regional Park after encountering poor visibility during a medical call shortly after 12:30 a.m. A teenage girl critically injured in the crash remains in a Baltimore hospital.

Trooper Lippy, a flight paramedic, was a former Anne Arundel County firefighter who worked at the Marley Fire Station in Glen Burnie from August 2000 to October 2004, said Battalion Chief Matthew Tobia, a county Fire Department spokesman.

He left the fire department after four years to join Maryland State Police with the goal to fulfill his dream to work as a flight paramedic, said Keith Whalen, a county firefighter and paramedic, and friend of Trooper Lippy.

Trooper Lippy leaves behind a wife and infant daughter, state police said. He only recently had returned from family leave after the birth of his first child.

Firefighter Whalen hand-delivered cash to Trooper Lippy's widow yesterday, taken from the county fire union's Widows and Orphans Fund for families of fallen county firefighters.

Even though Trooper Lippy left the county Fire Department four years ago, union officials wanted to show their support, said Craig Oldershaw, president of Local 1563.

"Once a member of this family, always a member of this family," he said. "There was never a second thought of giving his wife the death benefit that's given to our members."

The union currently is organizing two charter buses to take county firefighters to Trooper Lippy's funeral service.

The cause of the Sunday crash remains under investigation.

Members of the National Transportation Safety Board examined the crash site yesterday, collecting and documenting pieces of the aircraft, said spokesman Keith Holloway. The safety board has requested maintenance records for the crashed Eurocopter Dauphin twin jet-engine helicopter, as well as medical and training records for the pilot, retired Cpl. Stephen J. Bunker, 59, of

Waldorf, who also was killed in the crash. The 72-hour history for the pilot is also being looked at, Mr. Holloway said.

"We'll continue to look at issues like weather and how that may have affected operations," Mr. Holloway said. "We will continue looking at the maintenance of the helicopter to see if there were any imperfections."

Investigators inspected the helicopter's instrument panel and are determining whether it requires a more thorough examination off-site.

Mr. Holloway said the safety board does not determine cause at the crash site, and estimates a preliminary report will be ready on the National Transportation Safety Board Web site early next week.

This is the fifth fatal crash in state police Aviation Command's 47-year history, and the most deadly.

All Maryland State Police medevac helicopters remain grounded this morning, said Sgt. Arthur Betts, a state police spokesman.

The county Fire Department has been instructed to continue to call for medevac service when it's needed, said Chief Tobia. Dispatchers will contact SYSCOM, the statewide communications system, to alert the closest available medevac helicopter.

A 50-year-old man was airlifted to the trauma center at Prince George's Hospital Center by a U.S. Park Police helicopter following a single vehicle crash on Route 4 in Lothian yesterday morning, said Division Chief Michael Cox, a county Fire Department spokesman. The transport ran smoothly and without delay.

Scrutiny

Sunday's crash is causing some officials to take a second look at medevac operations, where roughly half the patients transported have what turn out to be minor injuries.

The Capital conducted a study in March in which several experts said the practice puts added wear and tear on equipment and exposes flight crews and patients to unnecessary danger.

In the minutes before the crash, Mr. Bunker radioed that flight conditions were difficult and said he would land elsewhere. The radio eventually went silent.

Searchers later found the helicopter in a crumpled heap on a woodsy hillside, with four of its five occupants dead.

In the past 12 months, 31 people have been killed in accidents involving medical helicopters, the National Transportation Safety Board said. A federal investigation in 2006 found there were 55 air ambulance accidents nationally from 2002 to 2005, resulting in 54 fatalities.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Alison Duquette said the agency is concerned and is working with EMS associations to figure out what more they can do to reduce accidents.

The state-run helicopter program in Maryland had been known for its safety record, with just three other fatal crashes in four decades. But in recent weeks, concerns had been raised about the fleet's age and maintenance.

Last week, two state senators wrote to the FAA saying that Maryland's helicopters "are aging and represent a considerable degree of complexity in terms of maintenance and repair capabilities."

The helicopter that crashed was purchased in 1989 and was the second-oldest in the state's fleet, though it had passed an inspection only days before the flight.

The helicopter did not have a terrain awareness warning system that would have alerted the pilot he was flying dangerously close to trees, said National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman. The NTSB in 2006 recommended that emergency medical helicopters begin using the equipment.

Observers say the accident demonstrates a disturbing rise in the number of emergency air transport crashes, and they wonder if a system designed to save lives may be costing them.

Aviation authorities also are indicating that it may be time to discuss regulatory changes.

They also could discuss how decisions are made when officials choose to transport patients by air or by ground.

"Tremendous loss"

Firefighter Whalen met Trooper Lippy at the fire academy in summer 2000. He said Trooper Lippy continued fighting fires even after joining state police by being a volunteer firefighter in Owings Mills.

He said Trooper Lippy was quiet and had a dry sense of humor. And he was a devoted father to his new baby girl.

"He had wanted a baby from the beginning when I first met him," Firefighter Whalen said. "When they just had that baby, she was just the light of his life. That is what is so heartbreaking. Now, this baby doesn't have a dad."

The two of them instantly bonded in the fire academy.

"When you come into the academy, you walk through the gate and you don't know anybody," he said. "You kind of latch onto each other and I made friends with him right from the beginning. He was just a great guy, (he) always was."

Aaron Karvar, a county firefighter, said Trooper Lippy was "one of the utmost paramedic professionals he'd ever worked with." He said Trooper Lippy maintained a great attitude, even when things got tough.

"He never lost his cool or said anything bad," Firefighter Karvar said. "He was very upbeat. He didn't whine. That wasn't Mickey."

Capt. Brad Willis recalled, with a chuckle, a bit of whining on Trooper Lippy's part. Years ago, Capt. Willis won about $500 in the lottery. To celebrate, he bought steak and lobster for the firefighters at Marley Fire Station.

"Who would figure someone would turn their nose up at lobster," Capt. Willis said. "But he didn't want it. His only downfall was he was a picky eater. So we started calling him 'Picky Mickey.' "

Lt. Chris Schaetzley, who supervised Trooper Lippy at Marley, said the man was one of the best employees he ever supervised.

"He was a great guy," he said. "He had a great personality. He was very passionate about doing his job at the highest level."

Lt. Mark Frye, of the county Fire Department, said Trooper Lippy was dedicated to his job and strived to be the best paramedic he could be.

He said it was a big loss for the county when Trooper Lippy left the department for the State Police.

But his fellow firefighters said they were happy for him.

"He was only leaving us to fulfill his career, and ultimately, he made it," Lt. Frye said.