2 Die In Copter Crash -- Nurses Killed; Pilot Missing In Puget Sound

Two nurses were killed early today, and their pilot is presumed drowned, after a medical-evacuation helicopter crashed into Puget Sound near Bainbridge Island and sank in 700 feet of water.

The Italian-made Agusta A109A, operated by Airlift Northwest, left Boeing Field about 5:25 a.m. Fifteen minutes later, the Coast Guard received a report of a loud "pop" heard south of Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island's east side.

Seattle Fire Department officials said the nurses' bodies were recovered by a Seattle fireboat after wreckage and an oil slick from the helicopter were seen near Blakely Rock.

Michael Copass, Airlift Northwest medical director, identified the nurses as Marna Fleetwood, 40, of Brier and Amy Riebe, 41, of Seattle. The pilot was identified as Lee Bothwell, 42, of Puyallup.

No distress signal was heard from the helicopter, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said. The crash will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Officials said the crew was planning to land at Bainbridge High School to assist a woman in labor. She later delivered in an ambulance while en route to a Bremerton hospital, where mother and child were reported in satisfactory condition.

Airlift Northwest, operated by a consortium of four Seattle hospitals, flies emergency medical missions in Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. It has a staff of 54 nurses and 34 helicopter and fixed-wing pilots.

Bothwell had been with the service for just a few months but had more than 20 years' experience flying helicopters in the military. He was married and had three children, co-workers said.

The two nurses, both veteran employees of the service, also were married. Fleetwood had two young daughters; Riebe had two sons.

Copass said the operation has had only one other accident in 28,000 missions since it was founded in 1982. In 1987, a helicopter's tail rotor tpouched the fence at Harborview Medical Center's helipad; no one was injured.

Counselors this morning were called to assist the victims' co-workers, who gathered at the service's dispatch center near Boeing Field.

The flight from Boeing Field to Bainbridge would normally take six minutes.

It was foggy and dark at the time of the accident, and there was a low cloud ceiling, said NTSB investigator Debra Eckrote, but she said it is not known what role weather may have played in the crash.

The aircraft hit the water about 400 yards from shore.

"We'll be looking for mechanical failures or malfunctions, operating problems. . . . Everything is suspect until you can eliminate the possibilities," she said.

Eckrote said it was not known whether anyone saw the helicopter go down. At least two people heard what was initially described as an explosion or a boat collision, but it may have been the noise of the aircraft hitting the water, she said.

Copass said Fleetwood had been with the service since its beginning in 1982.

"She was a very sophisticated and gifted nurse," said Copass, who also is director of emergency services at Harborview Medical Center. "She could take care of any patient in any circumstances. She was very calm, very organized, very intelligent."

Riebe joined Airlift Northwest about 1986 when her husband was hired there as a pilot. A few years later, she took time off for advanced training to earn a nurse practitioner's certificate. She also worked part time at the urgent-care units of Harborview and University medical centers.

"She was a very hard worker, very driven, a perfectionist," Copass said. "She was always looking for things to do. She never said no."

Co-workers of the two nurses met briefly with reporters to voice their admiration for their colleagues. "It's a devastating loss. There are no two better flight nurses out there," said Debbie Sampson, the service's chief flight nurse.

According to Jane's World Aircraft, the twin-engine Agusta 109 helicopter is 43 feet long and has a rotor diameter of 36 feet.

One of the first vessels on the scene after this morning's crash was the ferry Spokane, loaded with commuters en route from Bainbridge to Seattle.

Among those aboard was Coast Guard Commander Mike Monteith, who said that, just after the ferry left the dock, passengers were told it would proceed slowly because word of the crash had just been received.

A short distance offshore, "The ferry veered over and came to a stop. . . . There was obvious wreckage of an aircraft in the water, no piece bigger than a breadbox," Monteith said.

He said the ferry skipper announced to passengers they were likely looking at the final resting place of a group of heroes.

"The whole ferry became very quiet and reflective," he said. "A number of folks were openly crying."

Seattle Times staff reporter Thomas W. Haines contributed to this report.