EDMONDS – The U.S. Navy will be asked to help recover two missing Airlift Northwest crew members killed in a helicopter crash Thursday night off the waters of Edmonds, an official with Airlift Northwest said Monday.
The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for the crew and wreckage pending further direction from the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the cause of the crash.
Three auxiliary boats are maintaining a safety zone around the presumed site of the crash in order to prevent any recreational boats from coming too close to the area, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Mike Zolzer said.
The medical helicopter went down in Browns Bay on Thursday night as it headed back to its Arlington base from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Pilot Steve Smith, 59, of Whidbey Island and nurses Erin Reed, 48, and Lois Suzuki, 47, both of Seattle, were killed in the crash. One body was recovered Friday.
“At this point it is really the responsibility of the owner of the helicopter to do the salvage. The Coast Guard has been out there every day,” said Georgia Struhsaker, a senior air safety investigator with the NTSB.
Crews using side-scan sonar equipment detected several images in the water Saturday, but when divers inspected further they found only rocks.
Airlift Northwest, however, is reluctant to bring in commercial divers for fear of a lengthy delay, similar to one they faced in 1995 when a helicopter crashed in Puget Sound near Winslow Harbor, about 12 miles southwest of Thursday’s crash.
A commercial company had been hired to salvage the wreckage but ultimately didn’t have the resources to bring up the helicopter, said Deb Sampson, executive vice president of operations.
“We’re going to push for the Navy to respond. We went through nine months of hell 10 years ago. We’re trying not to repeat that,” she said.
The priority will be to recover the bodies of the missing crew members, she said.
A public memorial for the crew is planned for Thursday at Boeing Field in Seattle.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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