Originally published in the Summit Daily News, July 7, 2015
One of my coworkers pointed out of the window, to a growing plume of smoke on the nearby. A forest fire, I initially assumed. But when I drove closer to the blaze, I learned that it was something else entirely. A medical helicopter had crashed, resulting in the death of the pilot, and critically injuring an on board flight nurse.
It was the first breaking news assignment I had ever received, at my first newspaper job, working for a daily in Breckenridge and the surrounding ski towns. I made it to the site of the crash shortly after authorities had begun putting up the yellow tape, and was able to talk to a few key eyewitnesses to piece together what had happened.
In addition to the main article, which I typed hastily on my phone, our team embedded a live feed of updates from law enforcement and other contributors using Storify.
In the end, the flight nurse survived, after suffering severe burns as a result of the crash. The fuel tank had ruptured, resulting in the large fire we had witnessed. Thanks to a legal loophole, the helicopter – and many other rotorcraft – had never been equipped with crash-resistant fuel systems. The survivors and their families ultimately won a $100 million settlement from Airbus Helicopters and Flight for Life operator Air Methods Corporation.
