Oct 16, 2008 10:41 pm US/Central
Air Angels Pilot, Crew Remembered For Dedication
Medical Helicopter Flight Group Loses 3 People In 3rd Crash In Recent Years
BOLINGBROOK, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Air Angels pilot Del Waugh
Air Angels
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Air Angels nurse Bill Mann
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Despite the tragedy, flying lessons went on as scheduled at Clow Airport in Bolingbrook, one of the locations from which the Air Angels group flies its missions of mercy.
Three of those angels are gone now, including the helicopter pilot, 69-year-old Del Waugh, a Vietnam veteran who was shot down four times during combat there.
The airport manager at Clow remembers him well.
"He'd sit outside the hangar waiting for a call, on his lounge chair smoking a cigar, waiting," Joe Di Paulo said. "Then all of a sudden, they'd get a call -- because their business, keep in mind, was to save lives. It's what they did."
Two other members of the Air Angels were lost in the crash, including paramedic Ron Battiato, of Peotone. He was 41, and the father of six children, including a newborn.
Back in Norridge, another family mourned, remembering William Mann Jr., who decided what he wanted to do when he was just 12.
"My son saved peoples' lives," Bill Mann Sr. said. "He just did anything he had to do. He flew, he flew, he said, 'Dad I love it.'"
But he agreed to his parents' plea that he look for another nursing job, on the ground.
"We were really concerned recently with all of the accidents that had taken place recently," said his mother, Arlette Mann.
According to the NTSB this crash already makes 2008 the deadliest year ever for medical evacuation flights, far worse than some recent years when there were few if any of fatalities. The Aurora crash is the third air Angels mishap in recent years. In 2003, a pilot was killed in the crash of one of their choppers; another pilot survived a 2007 crash.
"Early this morning I stopped down there about 6:30 just to see if there were anything we could do for them, and, it was a very somber location. They were all outside, didn't know what to do ... walking away breaking down," Di Paulo said.
Air Angels has suspended all flights for now. And Children's Memorial Hospital, which normally uses University of Chicago helicopters says it won't any accept any transports from Air Angels until the NTSB investigation is complete.
"Not only do we as an industry have an obligation to understand why this is happening and how we can prevent it, but I think the NTSB representing everybody as a whole has an obligation to do that," said Air Angels CEO Jim Adams.
The NTSB says they will have preliminary results in about a week, though the final results could be months away.
It is not yet known when the Air Angels will resume their life-saving flights.
Purple bunting was hung Thursday afternoon from the building housing the Air Angels
CBS 2's Mike Parker and Jay Levine contributed to this report.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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