SPRINGDALE : Pilot has passion for flying, life
Posted on Saturday, September 13, 2008
SPRINGDALE —Stephen L. “Andy” Anderson hates turning down a call for help, but it’s part of the job.
“It just doesn’t make sense to kill three to try and save one,” he said.
For 16 years, the veteran pilot has been making that call from the Springdale base for Air Evac Lifeteam. Anderson will be honored by the company Sunday for being one of 10 flight crew members to have flown 2, 000 patient missions.
At his request, the ceremony will be at Rogers First Church of the Nazarene, where he attends.
Knowing the nature of the emergency can make the decision more difficult, Anderson said.
That’s exactly why Air Evac Lifeteam crews are kept in the dark about the calls to which they respond. They’re only told that someone needs to be lifted and to decide if conditions allow for a flight.
After so many years of flying people within a 30-minute radius of Springdale, Anderson has gotten to know quite a few people, flying some multiple times.
Anderson has been a helicopter pilot all of his adult life, having learned to fly in the U. S. Army during the Vietnam War. At 60, he has no intention of giving up the controls anytime soon.
“When my crew is uncomfortable, that’s my last day to fly,” Anderson said.
Many thought Anderson’s last day to fly would have been May 24, 1998. That was the day the Bell 206 L 3 he was flying dropped out of the sky, crashing behind a pizzeria less than a block from the base.
Anderson’s back was broken in two places. The onboard paramedic’s back was broken in four places, and the flight nurse’s in one place.
The helicopter had just lifted off en route to pick up a heart patient. In the midst of his climb to flying altitude, the helicopter unexpectedly dropped 50-70 feet.
Anderson managed to put the helicopter down in the best possible place and avoided the busy U. S. 71 Business.
Benton County deputy Jeff Fozard, also a helicopter pilot, believes it was the right decision.
“He showed me his departure path,” Fozard said. “If it hadn’t been somebody that was prior military, they wouldn’t have survived. There would have been at least three dead, if not more.”
An extra O-ring left in the engine when it was overhauled two years prior caused the wreck, a jury ruled. Anderson won $ 2. 64 million in damages.
Several people doubted he ever would fly again, much less return to work, Anderson said, but he was not among them.
Before returning, Anderson went through a Bell Helicopters program that included examinations by flight surgeons and neurospecialists before he was given the green light.
Fozard said he took Anderson up the first time after the accident. He was returning the favor, as Anderson had helped Fozard get back into flying after an 11-year break.
The two have been friends since they met in Army flight school in 1971.
“He’s an excellent pilot,” Fozard said of Anderson. “I’d fly with him anywhere under any conditions. Whether it’s combat or anything.”
Flight nurse Allyson Johnson has the same confidence in Anderson.
It goes without saying that you have to be able to trust your pilot, Johnson said. Communication is one of Anderson’s strong suits. He makes sure you know exactly what is going to happen, she said.
Tom Gentry, a pilot stationed in Paris, strongly admires Anderson. Gentry also is an Armytrained pilot, only he had the luxury of going through school after men like Anderson did the hard work.
Gentry said Anderson is part of the era that pushed the limits of helicopters like the Bell UH-1 Iroquois, better known as a “Huey.”
It takes a different breed to be successful in this business, Gentry said. A helicopter pilot must deal with more challenges than pilots of other aircraft.
“An airline pilot would cry like a little girl if they had to land in the places we land,” Gentry said.
Missy Rothfus, a Volunteer Ambulance Service of Northeast Benton County volunteer, said Anderson is the best.
“There is nobody you want to see flying more than Andy when you have a critical patient,” Rothfus said. “He knows the area; there’s no time loss; and you know they’re in good hands.”
Anderson leaves the medical work to the professionals and in transit sits next to the patients’ feet. From a medical perspective, getting the patient to a well-equipped hospital is the best thing Anderson can do for a patient.
The family of Ken Ludolph credits Anderson with saving their son.
“Andy is one of the nicest people we’ve ever met. Without him we probably wouldn’t have our son — him and the guys that he worked with,” said Debbie Ludolph, whose son fell from a cliff over the Buffalo River in 2003.
Ken Ludolph slipped and fell while climbing one of the river’s many bluffs.
There was no cell phone service in the remote location, so friends had to take a canoe to get help, Debbie Ludolph said. They also had to use a canoe to get Ken Ludolph to Anderson and the helicopter.
Debbie Ludolph, who lives in Iowa, said Anderson made a special effort to help them through that time. He checked on them every day and inspired them with the knowledge that he, too, had recovered from a head injury.
Once you meet Anderson, Debbie Ludolph said, “you are part of his family.”
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