Update Helicopter Crash

Tuesday evening October 21, 2008: We've received the news that a helicopter has crashed into the sea close to Saba airport.

Wednesday morning 7.00 am October 22, 2008: article in the Daily Herald:
From the Daily Herald Wednesday Oct 22, 2008

PHILIPSBURG--Reports reaching The Daily Herald shortly before press time this morning said a helicopter
on a mercy mission from St.Maarten had crashed in the vicinity of Saba’s airport and apparently
had disappeared into the sea.
Reliable sources in Saba reported that the helicopter had been summoned to that island to
air dash a patient who had fallen seriously ill to St. Maarten, but had encountered problems while
navigating in the vicinity of Juancho Yrausquin Airport.
The reports said a group of Saba fi shermen had been mobilised quickly for a rescue mission and a St. Maartenbased
Coast Guard vessel and crew had been sent to Saba to spearhead the exercise.
However, up to press time it could not be determined whether the pilot and aircraft had been found.
In the meantime, according to the reports, authorities opted to transport the patient, who was said to be in critical
condition, by boat to St. Maarten for emergency medical attention.

October 21, 2008 / 10.00 am: Airport authorities confirm by phone that the helicopter that crashed into the sea is the R44 from Leeward Islands Helicopters with pilot Mike Huttenlocker on board.
At this time we have no information if eventually anybody else was also on board.
( still hoping for a survival miracle )

October 21, 2008 / 10.30 am: a spokes person from the St.Maarten Sea rescue confirms by phone that parts of the helicopter have been found. No information about the pilot as yet.

October 21, 2008 / 11.30 am: Sad news. Jean Claude from the French side sea rescue tells us that there was an American passenger on board. Human remains have been found. ( it turns out that the passenger is not an American but most probably Mr.Marsdin )

Update from the Daily Herald:

PHILIPSBURG-- Windward Islands
Police Chief Inspector Alfred
“Churchill” Marsdin and his
pilot friend and business partner
Michael Mike Huttenlocker have been classified as missing, but
they are feared dead.
The two are believed to have
perished when the Robinson R44
helicopter in which they were flying a mercy mission to Saba late
Tuesday night apparently crashed
into the sea about 12 miles from
Princess Juliana International
Airport. All traces of the helicopter
had disappeared from the
radar at the airport’s air traffic
control tower at approximately
10:50pm.
An intensive search
and rescue exercise was
launched about 95 minutes
after the aircraft disappeared
and up to the time
it was called off around
12:45pm yesterday, no survivors
had been found.
However, confi rmed
police and other reports
stated that some still-to-beidentifi
ed body tissues had
been recovered. Also recovered
within the general
search area at sea were two
life jackets, debris from the
helicopter, including the severely
damaged rooftop, an
infl ated but empty life raft,
seats, the Automatic Location
Device or black box,
and carpeting.
Windward Islands Police
Acting Chief Commissioner
Richard Pannefl ek
said the body tissues had
been sent to the lab at St.
Maarten Medical Center
to determine whether they
were human.
The fi rst confi rmation of
fi nding debris from the
crash was received around
daybreak when, according
to a press release from
St. Maarten Sea Rescue
Foundation (SSRF), a St.
Barths-registered cargo
vessel Gilles Alida notifi ed
the search crew that they
had found two lifejackets,
a report that resulted in
the rescue team redirecting
the focus area of its operations.
One reliable report
reaching The Daily Herald
Wednesday said an Italian
pointed-toe shoe like those
Marsdin was commonly
seen wearing also had been
found by the rescue team.
All items recovered were
brought to shore at Bobby’s
Marina by the SSRF team
around 2:15pm Wednesday
and handed over to police
authorities for further investigation.
SSRF Head
Bobby Velasquez said items
had been found 14 miles off
the island.
At a press conference held
in a well-appointed conference
room in the new
section of the police headquarters
in Philipsburg yesterday,
Pannefl ek said police
management hoped to
conclude the investigation
and speedily reach a position
to confi rm or dismiss
reports that their colleague
Marsdin might or might not
have survived the accident.
Further search
Pannefl ek said that, as
no bodies had been found,
Marsdin and Huttenlocker
could not be classifi ed as
dead and the Coast Guard
of Fort de France Martinique
was still gathering information.
He said personnel of the
Netherlands Antilles Civil
Aviation Department
would be coming to the island
shortly to examine the
wreckage and try to determine
the probable cause of
the crash.
Marsdin and Huttenlocker
Marsdin (50), a former
head of Immigration at
Princess Juliana International
Airport, appeared in
the Court of First Instance
on September 17 accused
of committing forgery. The
trial was suspended for additional
witnesses to be heard and he was expected
to make his next court appearance
sometime December
or January.
November 1 this year would
mark 30 years since Arubaborn
Marsdin, who is married
and the father of four,
joined the Windward Islands
Police Force. He and Huttenlocker,
a US citizen and
certifi ed pilot, other than being
good acquaintances are
business associates.
The two were in the fi nal
stage of wrapping up documentation
to have their
Leeward Islands Helicopters
Operation based at
Port de Plaisance licensed
after three years in the
pipeline.
In a recent interview with
The Daily Herald about the
new venture, Operations
Manager Huttenlocker and
Financial Manager Marsdin
had said local sightseeing
tours, tours to the neighbouring
islands, charters
to the neighbouring islands
and medical evacuations,
amongst other services,
were the main focus of their
business endeavour.
Leeward Islands Helicopters
Operation, using the
striking red helicopter that
crashed Tuesday night, has been carrying out medical
evacuations for some time
now, transporting patients
from Saba and St. Eustatius
to St. Maarten.
Mercy mission
The trip by Marsdin and
Huttenlocker to Saba on
Tuesday night was to transport
a critically ill patient
who had suffered a heart
attack and needed immediate
assistance.
Marsdin and Huttenlocker
were to make two trips that
evening, one to collect the
patient, a prominent Saba
businessman, and the other
to transport his family
members to St. Maarten.
After the helicopter
failed to show up and the
search and rescue mission
got underway, the patient
was transported aboard
the Dawn II cargo/passenger
ferry, which normally takes two hours to reach St.
Maarten. He was fl own to
Puerto Rico later on a medical
evacuation helicopter
from Puerto Rico for further
medical attention.
At yesterday’s press conference
at police headquarters,
Pannefl ek on behalf
of local Chief of Police Lt.
Governor Franklyn Richards
and the police management
conveyed a message
of strength and comfort
to all members of the
Police Force at this time of
grief. On behalf of the entire
police organisation he
also conveyed the force’s
prayers to Marsdin’s wife,
three daughters, son and
other relatives.
Among the entities involved
in yesterday’s search
and rescue exercise were
the SSRF, the French side
Sea Rescue, SNS 129, the
Coast Guard of the Netherlands
Antilles and Aruba
section St. Maarten, the
Coast Guard of Fort de
France Martinique and the
US Coast Guard, which
provided specialist aircraft.
(Hazel Durand and Courtney
Gibson)

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