Audit Faults Fire Dept.’s Chopper Unit

A year after four people were killed in the crash of a helicopter, the Los Angeles Fire Department has failed to correct some problems with its air operations, including adoption of a regular replacement program for older aircraft, a state audit said Friday.

The report by State Auditor Kurt Sjoberg stated the department has taken some action since the March 1998 crash but found the agency still “underemphasizes training and other safety issues.”

The audit recommended that the city put air operations under the control of a pilot instead of a firefighter, improve training for pilots and adopt a policy that all helicopters be replaced on a regular schedule.

“The city can do more in staffing, training and providing equipment to enhance the safety and effectiveness of its Air Operations Unit,” the audit concluded.

Fire Department officials said Friday they are working on the recommendations of the state report, noting similar issues were raised in a recent internal audit by the city.

Fire Chief William Bamattre said the city has taken major steps to improve helicopter safety, including the purchase of two new aircraft, but that other reforms are still awaiting Los Angeles City Council approval and funding.

“We embrace the state audit,” said Battalion Chief Daryl Arbuthnott. “We are taking action. Nothing happens fast in city government.”

The audit was released by State Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar), who criticized the city for not doing more to improve safety since the Los Feliz helicopter crash took the life of three firefighters and a child.

Many of the same problems were identified by the Fire Department in 1989, so more should have been done by now, Alarcon said.

“I think it’s absolutely unconscionable for the Fire Department not to do everything possible to make their helicopters safe,” Alarcon said during a news conference at the downtown office of the firefighters’ unions.

Ken Buzzell, president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles, said the department has taken too long to improve safety.

“Here we are a year and a half after this tragedy and we’re still waiting for these corrections to take place,” Buzzell said.

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Alarcon and Assemblyman Scott Wildman (D-Burbank) announced Friday that they will sponsor state legislation to require statewide standards for emergency helicopters.

The audit found that different departments have different standards for training, employment and operations.

For instance, the Los Angeles Fire Department requires pilots to have 500 hours of flight time to qualify for its Air Operations Unit, while the Los Angeles County Fire Department requires 4,000 flight hours, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department requires 3,000 hours and the California Department of Forestry requires 2,000 hours.

“Clearly what the audit has shown is there isn’t the appropriate staffing, there hasn’t been the appropriate training, and we really need to fix this,” Wildman said.

The department concluded that the 22-year-old helicopter lost a tail rotor because of a fatigue fracture, and that the airship was not equipped with helmets, tether straps and other safety devices. The department has purchased helmets and straps, as well as two new helicopters, and has drafted a program for regular replacement of its six helicopters. The program has yet to receive City Council approval, Bamattre said.

Council officials said the expense of the replacement program is still being weighed, along with other budget requests totaling $749,000 to increase staffing so that paramedics can be assigned exclusively to the Air Operations Unit at Van Nuys Airport.

In the past, paramedics and new pilots have worked at regular fire stations and were on call for helicopter flights as needed. That “double duty” took pilots and paramedics away from training and air operations, and sometimes delayed responses to calls, the state audit said.

The department is also working on proposals to require more flight hours before pilots can qualify for helicopter service, and creation of a new chief pilot position to address the concern that the helicopter operations are under the oversight of a firefighter who is not a pilot.

Joining the legislators at a downtown news conference was the father of one of the city paramedics killed in the crash.

“It would be a crime if they died in vain and nothing was done to alleviate the problems that caused their deaths,” said Ken Worthen, whose son, Eric Reiner, died when the helicopter carrying a 12-year-old traffic accident victim crashed last year.