The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the deaths of two Native Air Ambulance crew members as the result of their helicopter going down in a remote area of the Superstition Mountains north of Superior, Ariz. at approximately 6 p.m. on Dec. 15. Pilot David Schneider, 51, of Gilbert, Ariz. and Flight Nurse Chad Frary, 38, of Mesa, Ariz. were fatally injured in the crash. Flight Paramedic Derek Boehm, 38, of Gilbert, Ariz. is the sole survivor and is listed in fair condition at a local hospital.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said in a Wednesday morning press conference, “We ask for prayers for the families of the crew members aboard. This is a medical crew who helps people each and every day and now, has gone down in this tragic incident.”
In the press conference, Sheriff Babeu provided the following timeline of events:
On Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m., the Pinal County Sheriff’s office communications center received a call from Native Air asking if there were reports of a helicopter crash. They were told that none had been reported at the time. At 8:18 p.m., the dispatch center received a call from the Ariz. Dept. of Public Safety advising that Native Air had requested their assistance in locating a missing helicopter which had left the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, flying to Globe, Ariz. Pinal County deputies responded to the reported area where last contact was made with the flight, but were unable to the remote location by ground. At 8:27 p.m., Native Air advised DPS that they had found the crash site of their downed helicopter in a rugged area of the Superstition Mountains and had dropped of two of their medical staff on the ground nearby, who were making their way to the crash site.
At 9 p.m., the Ariz. Dept. of Public Safety advised PCSO that they had located the crash site and were unable to land; however, they were signaled with a flashlight from the ground by a survivor of the crash. The US Air Force was called to assist in extracting the survivor from the crash site. At 10:15 p.m., a USAF helicopter extracted the lone survivor from the crash site and flew him to a Phoenix trauma center.
Sheriff Babeu concluded, “At sunrise on Wednesday morning, PCSO Search and Rescue personnel were airlifted to the crash site to secure the wreckage and recover the two deceased crew members. The recovery operations continue at this time. PCSO is assisting the NTSB and FAA with their investigation of the helicopter crash. The federal investigators will make determination of the cause of the crash upon completion of their investigation.”