For Angel pilots' network, crash is 3d catastrophe since June

A network of private pilots who volunteer to fly patients around the country to get medical services was left reeling yesterday by news of a fatal Angel Flight crash in Easton, the third such accident in as many months.

"This has shaken the entire charitable aviation community," said Christel Gollnick, chief executive of Angel Flight Central, which serves the Midwest. "We had a 25-year history of never losing a passenger."

That all changed in June when an Angel Flight crashed in Iowa City, killing a Georgia toddler who was being flown home after medical treatment for a clubfoot. A little more than a month later, an Angel Flight crashed in Florida, killing the pilot, a cancer patient, and her family friend.

"We were in complete shock," Gollnick said. "We've never had to go through anything like this."

Coast to coast, the network completes about 20,000 Angel Flights a year, taking premature babies home from the hospital, flying cancer patients to their chemotherapy sessions, and transporting children with special needs to summer camps.

"The pilots look at the missions and if they can and wish to fly, we coordinate it," said Mary Alice Alexander, executive director of Mercy Flight Southeast, which serves Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Pilots are required to be certified and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, said Alexander. They must also have their medical records up to date and have liability insurance.

"These are people that love to fly and love to help people," she said.

Gollnick said that the three accidents occurred under different circumstances and that no policy changes have been proposed.

"We haven't found any linking factor," she said.

The Iowa City accident happened just after takeoff. Eyewitnesses said the plane was flying low and slowly in gusty winds. The Florida accident also happened just after takeoff; news reports said investigators initially thought the plane hit an antenna on the runway. In Easton yesterday, witnesses said that the plane was circling overhead and that it appeared to stall before nose-diving into a parking lot.

"One wonders about God's plan," Alexander said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating all three accidents, spokesman Peter Knudson said.

"We will look to see if that had any relation," he said. "We don't know."

This was the first fatality in Angel Flight New England's 12-year history, spokeswoman Amy Camerlin said.

She said the organization has flown more than 53,000 children in 30,000 flights.

"Ultimately, aviation is a very, very safe way to travel," Gollnick said. "We're all at a much higher risk entering an onramp on the highway.

Tania deLuzuriaga can be reached at deluzuriaga@globe.com.