Authorities searched today for one of two crew members who police said died when a medical evacuation helicopter crashed into the Potomac River late last night near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
Firefighters and police rescued one man from the water and recovered a single body just after the helicopter went down shortly after 11 p.m. several hundred yards off the National Harbor development in Prince George's County. Authorities said they believed a third crew member, whose body was not recovered today, was dead.
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Audio: Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department Captain Chauncey Bowers updates the helicopter crash in the Potomac River with washingtonpost.com's Jonathan Forsythe.
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The rescued man was identified early this afternoon by officials of Air Methods Corp., which operated the helicopter, as Jonathan Godfrey, a nurse on the flight. Paramedic Nicole Kielar's body was recovered.
The pilot, Joseph Schaffer, has not been found.
A crane pulled the wreckage of the EC 135, twin-engine chopper from the Potomac after 8 a.m. today.
The private medical evacuation service was returning from Washington Hospital Center to its base in Stafford County, about 40 miles south. No patient was on board at the time.
Maryland State Police Sgt. Billy Dunston, who was patrolling in the area, told television interviewers that he "observed a helicopter flying unusually low past the construction equipment," near the bridge. "I didn't think anything of it until a citizen advised me that a helicopter had crashed into the water," he said. The witness was able to pinpoint the area where the chopper went into the water, Dunston said, which helped rescuers do their work more quickly.
Godfrey was found in the water clinging to the tail section of the craft, according to Alan Etter, a spokesman for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department. Authorities said the man had numerous injuries but was able to talk to his rescuers. Depending on the tide, the water in the area ranges from knee-deep to shoulder-deep.
He was taken to the Washington Hospital Center, where he was listed in fair condition this afternoon after emerging from surgery. Godfrey should be released within a few days, a hospital spokeswoman said.
No cause of the crash has been determined.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived on the scene early this morning and were exploring possible causes.
Laura Brown, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the weather conditions were clear and wind was calm at the time of the accident. The pilot had just communicated with air traffic control at Reagan National Airport before the accident, she said.
Near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge there are several large cranes involved in the bridge renovation and the nearby National Harbor construction. Maryland State Police Col. Thomas E. Hutchins said he did not know whether the cranes played any role in the crash.
According to the FAA, cranes and other towers are recommended to have markings and lights if they stand more than 200 feet tall, and if the cranes or structures are within three miles of an airport, such markings and lights are required.
"Operators are responsible for what we call terrain clearance," said Brown said.
NTSB Chairwoman Ellen Engleman Conners told a news conference today that the aircraft was operated by Life Net, a subsidiary of Colorado-based Air Methods Corp.
Conners said the aircraft in last night's crash had been in service less than one month. She also said there has been a spike in medical evacuation crashes in the past year and that this is the 11th since January 2004. Four people have died, including the pilot crash last week in Mississippi of a medical helicopter operated by Air Methods.
Before last week, the company had one crash in 2002 and one in the late 1990s, said Aaron D. Todd, the company's chief executive officer.
"Our hearts go out to the families," said Todd. "We're cooperating with the NTSB investigation."
The company conducts 100,000 medical evacuation flights a year directly or through subsidiaries. Air Methods acquired Life Net more than two years ago. "We are very devoted to safe operating practices," Todd said.
After the accident, police and fire departments from around the area joined in the search and rescue effort. Among those responding were the Maryland State Police, the D.C. Fire Department marine unit and units from the Alexandria and Prince George's County police and fire departments.
A variety of helicopters take to the skies above the Washington area daily, for purposes that include law enforcement, search and rescue and medical evacuations.
Many of them use the Potomac River as a principal north-and-south route to avoid flying over congested neighborhoods and to minimize noise. They are directed to fly below 300 feet so that they do not interfere with aircraft flying in and out of National Airport, the FAA said. Because of the security rules that govern the airspace over the nation's capital, pilots must be in communication with air traffic control and transmit a discreet code to identify them to controllers.
Washington Post staff writer Sara Kehaulani Goo and Del Quentin Wilber contributed to this story.
