Greg and all,

Thanks you, I will pass along everyone’s thoughts and prayers.

From the early reports, it is looking more and more like a combination of the weather turning bad during the course of the flight combined with the fact that Trooper 2 did not have a terrain awareness warning system leading to the inability of the pilot to gauge his distance to the tall trees in the crash area. The MSP-Medevac system is currently grounded until further notice, pending the completion of at least a preliminary investigation. The state is also looking at the current dispatch criteria for Medevac transport vs. ground transport, as well as the whole concept of having a publicly funded MSP-Medevac program (the first and only one in the country). Unfortunately, it is political hot-potato of finger pointing right now.

Our team works mainly with Trooper 3, which is hangered in Frederick and generally is backed up by Troopers 5 or 8.

Pete