U-M remembers six crew members killed 5 years ago in Survival Flight plane crash
Photos courtesy UMHS
Pallbearers prepare to load a casket into a hearse after the service for Rick LaPensee at St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Belleville on Monday, June 11, 2007. LaPensee was one of six killed in the University of Michigan medical transport team plane crash into Lake Michigan.
No one survived the June 4, 2007, crash, but today UMHS officials made sure the memories of the crew members would live on.
"Five years ago, the UMHS community came together in grief, sadness and disbelief," UMHS CEO Ora Pescovitz wrote in a blog post. "Today, we came together once again to remember and honor six extraordinary men whose legacies inspire us each and every day."
The university held a remembrance ceremony this morning and is holding its annual Survival Flight Safety Day today.
The six employees were returning to Ann Arbor from Milwaukee after procuring a pair of lungs for transplantation into a UMHS patient when the chartered plane crashed into Lake Michigan shortly after takeoff.
On board were David Ashburn, a cardiothoracic fellow near the end of his training; Richard Chenault II and Rick LaPensee, transplant donation specialists; Martin Spoor, a cardiac surgeon and U-M faculty member since 2003; and pilots Bill Serra and Dennis Hoyes.
UMHS officials were able to procure another set of lungs for the then-50-year-old man undergoing the organ transplant.
The university has since erected a sculpture in a garden outside University Hospital to memorialize the U-M transplant team.
"To those of you who lost beloved colleagues on that heartbreaking June day, remember that through your work, you keep their extraordinary legacies alive and strong," Pescovitz wrote. "We can never replace loved ones who die too soon, but we can live each day after in tribute to them, and to the immense love and joy they brought to so many others."
In 2009, the National Transportation Safety Board determined that "pilots' mismanagement of an abnormal flight control situation," including lack of crew coordination and airspeed control, contributed to the crash.
Kellie Woodhouse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at kelliewoodhouse@annarbor.com or 734-623-4602 and follow her on twitter.
Comments
jeanette
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 1:23 a.m.
three years prior to this tragic event my brother was given a new pair of lungs, one of his attending Dr.s was one of the heroic people that lost their life. my brother gained 8 years of life that he lived to the fullest, sadly he passed this past march. donate life.
Michigan Man
Tue, Jun 5, 2012 : 12:39 a.m.
May God bless the memory of these 6 famous U of M healthcare workers and the fine and courageous work of all healthcare workers!
Honest Abe
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 11:03 p.m.
It is good we remember this crew. It also seems that another crew has been forgotten. On December 1, 1994, Midwest Medflight, a now defunct air ambulance program that was based out of St Joseph Mercy lost 3 members when their helicopter crashed at Huron Parkway and Plymouth roads. I was kind of hoping Survival Flight would do something to remember the fallen crew since Medflight merged with them last year. Please do not forget this crew! Especially since Medflight does not exist. Again, please do not forget: Janice Nowacki-Tobin/Flight Nurse, Richard Elliott/Pilot, and Terri Racicot/Physician.
John Urbanic
Mon, Jun 4, 2012 : 9:08 p.m.
Thought about you today and many times this weekend, Richard. Doing the best I can. Wish you were still here.