(Columbia) July 13, 2004 - A medical helicopter crashed in Newberry County Tuesday morning leaving four dead. The helicopter with Regional One Medical Air Service from Spartanburg Regional Hospital crashed Tuesday around 5:30am in a heavily wooded area near the Jalapa community in Newberry County.
The helicopter crashed after lifting off from an accident scene along Interstate 26. The helicopter had been dispatched with medical help for a 27-year old woman who was being treated for a leg injury. Local EMS called for a helicopter from Columbia, but no crews were able to respond, so the Spartanburg chopper took the call instead.
According to Newberry County Coroner James Smith, four people are confirmed dead. They include three crew members and a patient. The hospital says its employees were the pilot, 41-year-old Bob Giard, the flight nurse, 42-year-old Glenda Tessnear, and the paramedic, 31-year-old David Bacon Junior.
The patient's name has not been released. Authorities have identified the patient as a white female.
Giard and Bacon had been involved with the hospital's helicopter program since it started in May 2003. Tessnear had been a part-time flight nurse with the service for the past six months.
The crash site is near the I-26 rest area at the 64 mile marker in the Sumter National Forest. The site is close to the Palmetto Trail, which is a mountains to the sea hiking trail in South Carolina.
Emergency officials have set up a command post at the rest area. The FAA, NTSB, SLED along with other law enforcement agencies are all investigating and are expected to be on the scene for several days.
Johnny Williamson, an eyewitness, says that he saw the helicopter take off and then crash, "Never seen nothing like it, never." Williamson, a trucker, was at the nearby rest area Tuesday morning, "They air-lifted a patient from the median. When it got above the trees, I heard a big boom. Then I didn't hear no more chopper."
Williamson went to the scene with the rescuers, "In pieces, explosion. Never seen nothing like it, never. And I travel all over the country. I have seen many, many wrecks. The first time ever for that."
There are questions about the original accident that hurt the woman on I-26. Officials think she was walking down I-26 and was apparently hit by a car that left the scene. Sheriff's deputies do say the woman has been ticketed before for walking on a South Carolina interstate.
Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster says the woman's identity still remains a mystery, "Apparently she travelled around a lot. So we are looking for family to get to get to DNA to make a positive identification."
Sheriff Foster says the chopper came down on US Forest Service land. Recovery crews made a path with bulldozers and by hand through the heavily wooded area to the crash site.
The Regional One, a Bell 407 Helicopter , is based out of Spartanburg Regional, but provides services to outlying areas. The hospital says this helicopter model has a strong record of reliability and safety.
It was the first hospital-based air ambulance service in the Upstate. Each flight crew includes a pilot, a registered nurse and a paramedic.
Updated 10:34pm by BrettWitt with AP
David Bacon
Glenda Tessnear
Bob Giard
