Most departments are used to handling recovery operations for a single-car accident, which seem fairly simple. The goals are nearly the same for any large-scale incident: save the living, recover the dead, collect the pieces of debris and evidence, and restore the environment.

But when the call is for a response to an accident involving a police cruiser, fire truck, ambulance or a medical helicopter, the scene is filled with emotion along with higher levels of adrenaline and anxiety shown by the responding personnel. On- and off-duty emergency workers will tend to migrate to the site in an effort to help. The desire for privacy for the injured and urgency to complete the rescue and recovery operations may be elevated in the presence of expanded media coverage. Everyone wants to do the right thing, but they may not be aware of the actions that need to be completed in the long chain of events.

That's what the Pinellas County, Fla., emergency services community faced on April 25, 2000, when a medical helicopter collided with a 650-foot tall radio tower and crashed into a mangrove swamp, killing all three members of its crew. Word of the crash spread rapidly throughout the region. The media flocked to the site and a large complement of emergency service workers converged on the scene. Everyone wanted to help search for the victims.

Response to the unimaginable

The craft, Bayflite 3, was operated and staffed by a local hospital consortium as part of the county's EMS system. An experienced ex-military pilot was flying the craft. Also on board were a flight nurse, who was a member of the military reserves, and a full-time firefighter/paramedic who had taken a day off from work just to fly with the Bayflite 3 crew.

A witness had seen the helicopter hit the tower and fall from the sky some 1,200 feet from the impact site. The craft fell into a nature preserve with an overgrown maze of mangroves and other vines that are nearly impossible to walk through without the aid of machetes or other cutting tools. The area is at sea level, so it's often muddy and difficult to wade through. In most places, it's only navigable by canoe or Jon boats. The 911 communications center requested the sheriff's helicopter to help locate the crash site.

After nearly an hour of searching and hacking their way through the jungle, the first crew of rescuers reached the site. The craft lay in a nose-down position with all three occupants still inside. The crew transmitted the message that there were no survivors, and the atmosphere at the site and at remote locations where workers listened to their radios — and hoped for the best — changed when they heard the message.

Once the shock of the situation settled, officials set in motion plans for recovery operations. In any operation, safety must be a primary concern. Heavy rains, flooding and other environmental issues can place both the injured and the rescuer in danger. The swamp lands of Florida posed other dangers including alligators, water moccasins and rattlesnakes. Wading through the swamps and across the canals also could have resulted in the rescuers being sucked under if their boots and waders filled with water or they stepped into a hole.

Despite just having been refueled and carrying nearly 180 gallons of jet fuel, the helicopter wasn't on fire. However, the threat of fire was still present because of the spilled fuels. The fuel and hydraulic fluids also created the potential for chemical burns to the skin.

Furthermore, observation and lift helicopters hovered only a few feet above the tree canopy on numerous occasions. A mechanical problem could have brought down a second unit on the rescuers working below.

In addition to crew safety, security issues need to be addressed when formulating a recovery plan. Often it's very difficult to control the scene, especially if it's in a residential or business neighborhood. Many investigations have been hampered by the removal of crash debris from the scene by sightseers or souvenir hunters. It's important to set up a tight security perimeter as early as possible to achieve an effective recovery operation.

However, since the Bayflite 3 crash site was located in an isolated swamp area that already was fenced off, it was secure from sightseers and others who might interfere with the investigation and recovery operation.

Wading though the wreckage

Rescue officials held discussions to decide the best way to recover the bodies and wreckage from the swamp. Knowing the roles of each agency prevents confusion and conflict in the recovery operations. Obvious players included fire-rescue, emergency medical services and law enforcement agencies. Since there was an aircraft down, the National Transportation Safety Board also was involved.

The NTSB may take the lead in any investigation involving a public means of transportation or aircraft. In their typical investigation, the NTSB will be concerned with the mechanical status of the craft at the time of the event and with the sequence of activities leading up to the incident. The NTSB won't want anything moved at the site until they've been able to view and photograph all aspects of the wreckage. Clearance must first be sought from the either the NTSB or the Federal Aviation Authority prior to the removal of the victims' bodies.

In situations involving an aircraft, an FAA investigator also will be assigned to review events such as radio traffic, flight plans and paths, weather conditions, and any other issues that may have contributed to the crash.

Discussions with representatives from these agencies identified three tasks that needed to be accomplished:

1. Recovery of the victims' bodies.

2. Recovery of the aircraft fuselage and all of the debris scattered in the swamp, an area a half mile in diameter.

3. Restoration of this environmentally sensitive preservation area.

Whenever possible, the bodies should be removed before dark, and temporary containment of the fuel and hydraulic fluids should begin at once to prevent further damage to the environment and to reduce the threat of fire. Crews tackled the three steps simultaneously whenever possible.

1. Recovery of the victims' bodies

   Removal of the bodies couldn't begin until they were photographed by local law enforcement and until the FAA granted permission. While we waited, we identified four possible means of retrieving the victims:

   • Build a 1,000-foot long roadway through the swamp so vehicles could drive to the site and remove both the victims and the aircraft. We determined this to be impractical since it would take a couple of days to build the roadway, and the area ecology would be severely damaged in the process.
   • Use a canoe or Jon boat to get as close as possible to the wreckage and hand carry the victims several hundred feet through the mud and swamp back to the canoe or boat. We decided against this method because it would be very time consuming and both difficult and dangerous for the rescuers.
   • Carry the victims out of the swamp by hand. We determined this method to be ineffective because of the number of people it would take to carry the victims out, the danger to the rescuers and the time it would take to accomplish the task.
   • Request the Coast Guard to fly in a rescue helicopter, which could lower a Stokes basket to the site and lift out the bodies one at a time. The helicopter could then bring the victims to the landing zone at the command site. We determined this method to be the best option for recovery operations.

   The Coast Guard maintains one of its largest air stations about five miles from the crash site. The incident commander requested the Coast Guard fly in a helicopter to retrieve the bodies. The aircraft arrived at the site about 45 minutes later.

   In the meantime, the media learned of the retrieval efforts. Three or four media helicopters circled the site all afternoon. For the safety of all concerned, officials set up a news conference to explain what was going to occur and request that the media helicopters clear out of the air space.

   Once the Coast Guard helicopter arrived on the scene, crews suspended all other operations because of the hazards the chopper operation could cause. Only one fire-rescue company remained at the crash site to load the bodies. These rescuers worked directly under the hovering helicopter in the strong downwash from the rotary blades. During this time, the environmental cleanup crew stopped work until the Coast Guard crew lifted the victims from the crash site, which took about 15 minutes without incident.

2. Recovery of the fuselage and debris

   Once the victims were removed, the focus at the crash site shifted to a search for every piece of the aircraft. NTSB and FAA officials laid out the plan for the site survey and the sequence of events that would lead to the final recovery of the main fuselage. The tail section, which had been severed prior to impact, and all four rotary blades had to be located, so officials requested the sheriff's department helicopter to assist in the search.

   Crews charted the location of each piece of wreckage to depict the debris field. They used GPS instruments to locate the pieces and plotted the data on a site map. As each part was located, ground personnel went into the thick brush and mud to retrieve the item. By the end of the second day, investigators believed they had located enough of the wreckage to determine the probable cause of the accident. The process began the following day to collect all of the pieces of wreckage for transportation to the NTSB reconstruction site.

   Pinellas County fire and EMS personnel worked with the NTSB and FAA officials, the aircraft salvage company and the environmental cleanup staff to develop the plan to collect the wreckage the following day. Firefighters from St. Petersburg gathered at the site before dawn to be briefed on the day's activities, which included working in pairs in the swamp and carrying a floating pump and hose to the crash site to cover the area with foam to prevent any fire. A helicopter capable of lifting the large pieces of wreckage arrived at the site. Only one person stayed at the main wreckage site to connect the lift slings to the helicopter as it hovered.

   The fire personnel laid out their hose lines and connected the engine and tanker units. The environmental cleanup crew set up a portable containment tank where the wreckage would be placed for decontamination. Officials explained the recovery plan to the media, which had stayed at the site throughout the operations, and the FAA requested the airspace again be cleared while the air operations were under way.

   An hour later the lift helicopter attempted to lift the main fuselage. It pulled and tugged but the suction from the mud was too great, and the crew suspended the operation after a couple of minutes. The recovery team, which included the manufacturer and owner of the aircraft, again assembled to revise the recovery plan. The NTSB investigator agreed to allow the salvage company to disassemble a portion of the craft to lighten the load for the lift helicopter. Once this was done, the helicopter raised the fuselage in three segments from the grasp of the jungle and mud without incident.

3. Restoration of the area

   While the ground operations prepared for the arrival of the Coast Guard helicopter, a regional environmental cleanup official hired by the owner of the downed aircraft arrived to discuss the situation with county environmental management personnel. Together they devised a plan that included the installation of hydrocarbon booms and absorbent pads to soak up the pollutants. The cleanup team immediately went to work to secure the fuels.

The remains of the aircraft lay in the portable containment vessel, ready to be cleaned for inspection by the NTSB and FAA investigators. As each small piece and finally the main fuselage were washed of the mud, fuel and other contaminants, crews examined, photographed and moved it to the transport vehicle. The crews completed the job by evening and loaded the remains of the helicopter onto the vehicle that would carry it to the reconstruction site in Georgia.

While the craft was cleaned and inspected, the environmental cleanup crews removed the last traces of the fuel, hydraulic oils and other contaminants from the crash site. Crews secured environmental cleanup permits and packaged the contaminated materials in repack drums and prepared for shipment from the site.

Bayflite 3 rescue and recovery had its dangers, but because we addressed safety during each phase, crews completed the operation without injury. Frequent briefings and strategy sessions kept the entire team aware of every task performed by each of the operational components, which allowed the event to be completed in a timely manner.

Rescue and recovery operations are vital to the completion of any emergency response. There are numerous tasks that must be completed, and it's imperative that someone be placed in charge who has knowledge of the desired outcome. He or she must then lead the team, experts and officials to complete the process. Each member of the rescue and recovery team must be allowed to perform his or her task but must be made aware of the impact that task may have on the overall operations. Verbal communication is the key to success in any operation.

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Dwaine Booth is the assistant director of EMS and Fire for Pinellas County, Fla., where he oversees 15 fire district and 19 EMS district contracts. He was previously the director of 911 and emergency communications, and he helped design the county's computer-aided dispatch system. Booth was a member of the IAFC Accreditation Task Force for more than 10 years, and is currently a site assessor and team leader for the Commission on Fire Accreditation International.