The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its initial report on the fatal Sept. 30 helicopter crash off Santa Catalina Island, which occurred moments after a separate medical helicopter struck the ocean twice. The crash of a REACH Air Medical Services helicopter resulted in three fatalities. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating the earlier incident involving a Mercy Air helicopter, which departed from Pebbly Beach Seaplane Base near Avalon.
The Mercy Air helicopter departed the seaplane base approximately 45 seconds before the REACH aircraft. Surveillance footage reviewed by NTSB investigators showed the Mercy Air helicopter lifting into a hover, turning north, and departing, then descending about 13 seconds later and touching the ocean twice. Following these impacts, the aircraft climbed away and continued its flight to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed its awareness of the incident and stated it was looking into the matter, which involved a medical helicopter departing Catalina Island shortly before another helicopter crashed. An internal Air Methods safety report, obtained by the aviation-focused website TheDoctorMedic.com, detailed the Mercy Air pilot’s account of striking the water shortly after takeoff. The pilot described difficulty maintaining visual references over the dark ocean while utilizing night-vision goggles. The pilot recounted realizing a descent from 150 feet to 75 feet, making control corrections, and subsequently feeling a “thump and spray under chin bubble,” indicating clear contact with the water.
A social media post on Oct. 9 by TheDoctorMedic.com further reported a more detailed internal account, suggesting the pilot became distracted by radio communications and a searchlight. This reportedly led to a loss of outside visual references and inadequate monitoring of the aircraft’s instruments. The post also indicated that another Mercy Air aircraft had declined the flight due to weather conditions and that the pilot involved in the incident had declined a dispatch request to wait for the REACH helicopter to clear the helipad. According to TheDoctorMedic.com, the pilot accepted responsibility for the incident. These specific details from the internal report have not been independently verified.
Moments after the Mercy Air helicopter's departure, the REACH Air Medical Services helicopter took off from the same helipad with five people aboard, also bound for Torrance. According to the NTSB preliminary report, the helicopter climbed slightly before pitching nose-down and striking the ocean approximately eight seconds later. Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft reached a maximum altitude of about 90 feet above sea level. Its final recorded groundspeed was approximately 65 knots, or 75 mph, with a descent rate of about 1,280 feet per minute.
The fatal crash resulted in the deaths of pilot Steven Robinson, flight nurse Jessica DeVries, and patient Catalina Hernandez, who was being transported to the mainland for medical treatment. REACH Air Medical Services stated that Robinson was a former U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilot who had flown Marine One, the presidential helicopter. Flight crew member Brad Sparks and another passenger survived the crash and were hospitalized.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s divers recovered the patient’s body the day after the incident. Investigators located the helicopter wreckage approximately three-tenths of a mile north of the seaplane base, at a depth of roughly 209 feet beneath the ocean’s surface. The wreckage has since been recovered for further examination. Witnesses described the conditions on the night of the crash as dark and moonless.
The NTSB has not yet determined the cause of the fatal crash or whether the earlier helicopter’s contact with the water was related to the accident.
