Jenna Denher's Opinion on Monroe Michigan Helicopters
© Monroe Evening News
Ms. Dehner's opinion was published in the July 1, 2005 issue of the Monroe Evening News as a letter to the editor. Her opinion is not necessarily the opinion of neither the Monroe Evening News nor the web keeper. The statements attributed to third parties have not been verified by the web keeper and may be antidotal.
I have no knowledge if any helicopter carrying your mother flew over our home. If it did I wish her and the brave crew who helped safe her life God's' speed belatedly. A neurosurgeon’s skill is essential to save the lives and function of some stroke victims. I had no problem when my back surgery at four AM at Saint Joseph's Hospital in Ypsilanti Township for a week so. My surgeon Steve Swanson was needed to perform a surgery on an older woman with a stroke.
As stated in the article, flying over homes in the dense neighborhoods is a safety issue and reflects very poor planning on the part of past hospital administrations. The choice of which of two hospitals to expand and which to abandon may have been based on avoiding giving housekeeping persons a living wage and hospitalization benefits at the unionized Memorial Hospital and expanding Mercy where some of our finest citizens succeeded in breaking the union.
Update June 30, 2005
According to Larry King of the Detroit FAA Office, the Mercy Memorial heliport has been approved on June 16, 2005 and will be effective when the appropriate representative of the hospital completes and approves the appropriate forms.
The FAA imposes strict conditions of use. The landing and departure routes must be from 100 to 160 and 270 to 340 compass degrees of the centerline of the pad. In addition, all other applicable rules for must be met as regard s glide path clearances. This may require the helicopter to execute vertically before moving form the pad area in the applicable compass headings. The same may be required for arrivals so the required altitude is reduced to ground level over the landing pad.
The Heliport at the hospital has operated with a FAA license only since June 16, 2005, so since the facility is now licensed, the pilot must follow FAA rules which may require more time in descent and ascent to have enough altitude to enable picking a open space in which to crash. Such crashes are not at all uncommon even when using a FAA licensed facility. The airspace is now registered with the FAA and the pilot may not need to sneak in at treetop level to operate in non-FAA protected airspace.
What started this chain of events was my question to Mayor John Iacoangeli in a public council meeting Monday, March 21, 2005 concerning our loss of tax base to Mercy Memorial Hospital and the lack of an FAA approved heliport at the hospital. As follows:
Citizen Comments.
David Smith, 530 Hollywood, spoke in regard to the hospital’s plans to expand when they choose to not qualify for a legal heliport and asked the City to check into their intentions. He would like to see them move their whole facility onto Stewart Road where it can develop and flourish.
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