Weather worsened before copter crash

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By Tom LoBianco

Federal safety officials investigating a fatal Maryland State Police helicopter crash early Sunday morning say preliminary reports show weather conditions deteriorated quickly from the time the craft was dispatched to when it lost radio contact with police one hour later.

Visibility decreased from seven miles at 10:55 p.m., shortly before State Police dispatched the medevac helicopter to a car crash in Charles County, to four miles at 11:55 p.m. - the last time the crew made radio contact with police, a National Transportation Safety Board spokesman said Sunday evening. The cloud ceiling dropped from 1,300 feet to 500 feet over the same time, the spokesman said.

The helicopter crashed in a densely wooded section of the 470-acre Walker Mill Regional Park in District Heights. Rain and thick fog slowed the search.

A police officer discovered the wreckage with four dead and one survivor about two hours later, off a trail.

"This is a devastating tragedy for the families of all the victims," said State Police Superintendent Terrence B. Sheridan.

Investigators said the pilot radioed twice for help during the roughly 50-mile return trip from the accident in Charles County to Prince George's Hospital. The aircraft, carrying a three-member crew and two injured passengers, was diverted to Andrews Air Force Base because of the weather. On the approach to the base, the runway location was changed and the pilot radioed that he was having trouble assessing his surroundings. He again asked for assistance with the landing, and that was the last air traffic controllers heard from him.

Ambulances were sent to the base to transport the female accident victims the final 13 miles to the hospital, but the helicopter never arrived.

Federal authorities are investigating the cause of the crash, the deadliest in the state's medevac program, and expect to file a preliminary report next week. They had not decided Sunday night whether to remove the wreckage from the park, about seven miles north of the base.

The victims were identified as pilot Stephen H. Bunker, 59, of Waldorf; Trooper 1st Class Mickey C. Lippy, 34, a flight paramedic from Westminster; Tanya Mallard, 39, an emergency medical technician from Waldorf; and patient Ashley Youngler, 17, of Waldorf.

The survivor was identified as Jordan Wells, 18, of Waldorf, who was in critical condition Sunday night at Prince George's Hospital Center.