By Raam Wong and Phil Parker
Albuquerque Journal
As pilot Andrew Tingwall lifted his State Police helicopter off a snowy mountaintop Tuesday night, he could see the twinkling, orange lights of Santa Fe.
But within seconds fast-moving clouds had rolled in, completely blocking the cockpit view. Moments later, the twin-engine aircraft had crashed, tumbling and breaking apart as it rolled down a steep ravine. “The clouds got him,” State Police Chief Faron Segotta said Thursday.
The bodies of the veteran police sergeant and a second passenger, Megumi Yamamoto, were recovered Thursday morning. The helicopter crashed after picking up Yamamoto, a hiker who was lost on Santa Fe Baldy.
Despite a crushed leg, a third passenger, 29-yearold officer Wesley Cox, was able to walk a mile from the crash site to reach searchers Wednesday morning. He was in stable condition Thursday.
The recovery of the two victims’ bodies followed a round-the-clock search in which the same blustery snowstorm that had enveloped Tingwall’s chopper also kept rescue helicopters grounded for long stretches of time.
Now, as the Office of the Medical Investigator looks for the exact cause of death and those who knew the victims mourn their loss, authorities will begin the investigation into what went wrong.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators arrived at the site Wednesday to document the scene, interview witnesses, study communications by the pilot, look at weather conditions and more, a spokesman said Thursday.
Events surrounding Tuesday’s rescue mission appear uncommon for State Police, at least when it comes to recent emergencies in the Sangre de Cristos.
In the last several years, the State Police helicopter has been used to help search for people lost in the Santa Fe mountains. But those rescued were often hoisted up by New Mexico National Guard Black Hawk helicopters.
“Generally we try not to put helicopters on the ground unless it’s a life or death situation,” said Bob Baker, a State Police search and rescue field coordinator. “I don’t recall the last time we sat one down.”
Tuesday’s incident began late in the afternoon.
Yamamoto, a University of New Mexico graduate student, was hiking with her boyfriend and classmate, Paul Harrington. Harrington told police he got ahead of Yamamoto and she got lost.
“It’s easy to do in a very wooded area,” Segotta said. “Conditions at the time were windy; there was snow, blowing snow, and they got separated.”
Yamamoto called 911 about 5:30 p.m.
Search and rescue volunteers descended on Baldy.
The decision to dispatch and land the State Police helicopter, according to State Police spokesman Peter Olson, was made because of worsening weather and the hiker’s inexperience in the wilderness.
“It was clear when she called she was frantic and not prepared to spend the night,” Olson said Thursday morning. The helicopter is specially equipped for high altitude search and rescue missions, including landing and taking off at elevations up to 15,000 feet and flying up to 20,000 feet, Public Safety Secretary John Denko said earlier in the week. It was purchased in 2003.
During Tuesday’s doomed mission, Tingwall could see an opening in the clouds and decided to attempt the rescue, landing the chopper in a meadow near Spirit Lake. The pilot communicated over the radio that he was hurrying to get off the mountain due to rough weather.
“Andy knew it was closing in and he wanted to get out of there fast,” Olson said. As the helicopter lifted off the ground, visibility dropped to zero. Authorities believe the helicopter was unable to gain altitude after its tail rotor clipped a tree.
The helicopter apparently crashed into a ravine with its nose up, tipped left and tumbled between 800 and 1,000 feet down the steep mountainside, Segotta said. Cox told investigators all three passengers were buckled in during the crash.
Authorities said the investigation will focus on why Tingwall and Yamamoto were thrown from the helicopter despite their harnesses. Authorities had initially reported that Cox was also ejected from the helicopter, but said Thursday he had remained buckled inside, which allowed him to survive.
Asked if police considered calling in Black Hawk choppers Tuesday afternoon to search for Yamamoto, Olson said State Police “use whatever resources we can get quickly.”
Black Hawks were used heavily in the search for the downed police aircraft.
A Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department tactical flight officer who flew in the aerial search for the downed helicopter called the Tuesday night flights through heavy fog “one of the most intense flights we’ve had.”
Baker, the search and rescue coordinator, said high mountain winds can create a hazardous “vortex” as they blow off the ridge. A meteorologist with the National Weather Service said it was likely the mountain saw blizzard conditions overnight Tuesday.
Tingwall’s colleagues universally praised the pilot for his flying skills; he was trained both in fixedwing and rotary operation. The 36-year-old Santa Fe resident had been with State Police since 1995 and logged 1,300 hours of flight time.
Denko called Tingwall “very proficient” with “good hands.”
“He may not have had the number of hours that some of the veteran helicopter pilots had but he had a lot of experience in those conditions,” Segotta said. “He did a tremendous job with that weather he was experiencing that night.”
Clear, warm weather on Thursday morning allowed Black Hawk helicopters to land near the crash site and extract the two bodies and bring them to the National Guard armory in Santa Fe.
A slow, somber procession of more than 70 police vehicles carried Tingwall and Yamamoto to Albuquerque.
Cox was in stable condition at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center after undergoing surgery for a crushed right leg.
Tingwall was married to Leighann Gonzales Tingwall, a State Police dispatcher who took the call when her husband crashed. The couple has two daughters.
Memorial Fund
The New Mexico State Police Association has established the Tingwall Memorial Fund to benefit the family of State Police Sgt. Andrew Tingwall, who died in a helicopter crash during a search and rescue mission. Tingwall leaves behind his wife, Leighanne, and two young daughters. Contributions can be made at any Wells Fargo Bank. ‘Lively, sweet’
Copyright 2009 Albuquerque Journal