Friday, May 13, 2011

** Remains of US MIA combat medic killed in Vietnam to be laid to rest today

** Pilot error identified as cause of 2009 Florida air ambulance crash

UNITED STATES NEWS

** Funeral services are set for today in Montevallo, Alabama for a Vietnam combat medic who went missing in action in February of 1968. The Shelby County Reporter (Christine Boatwright/May 8) said the remains of James L. Moreland, who was 23 at the time of his death, will be laid to rest with full military honors in Brierfield’s Ashby Cemetery. Moreland, who was Green Beret, enlisted in the military in September of 1966. According to a colleague who was with him at the time of his demise, Moreland died during a secret mission in which the North Vietnamese used Russian tanks to attack. Of the 24 US soldiers involved in the incident, only 14 survived.

** The National Transportation Safety Board says pilot error caused the August 2009 crash of a MedStar air ambulance near Captiva, Florida. NBC 2 (May 10) said the final report into the incident ruled out both weather conditions and mechanical faults, saying pilot Diana Tackett made several errors during the pre-landing portion of the flight. Among these was Tackett’s failure to increase power by raising the collective lever which would have prompted the autopilot to attain a preselected altitude. In addition, dispatchers did not report when the helicopter ceased showing movement on GPS. Descending and then crashing into the Gulf, the chopper flipped over and filled with water. The pilot and both paramedics suffered no injuries.