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SANTA ROSA BEACH - Five hours passed before co-workers became aware that an ambulance helicopter and three crew members were missing Wednesday, investigators said Thursday.
The wreckage of the helicopter and the bodies of the crew were later found in Choctawhatchee Bay.
The helicopter used by Sacred Heart Health Systems left its hangar here shortly after midnight Wednesday morning to pick up a heart patient at De Funiak Springs, 25 miles away, for transport to a Pensacola hospital. Ten minutes after takeoff, the crew radioed that bad weather was forcing them to come back.
Dispatchers violated procedure by not making sure the Eurocopter BO-105 had returned safely, said Ed Baltzley, director of Walton County emergency operations. No one noticed the helicopter missing until a relief crew arrived at 6 a.m. and saw the hangar was empty.
An air search then located the wreckage in the bay.
Even had the helicopter been reported missing immediately, the crew's severe injuries indicated none could have survived impact to be rescued, said Walton sheriff's Capt. Stan Sunday.
Killed were Tom Palcic, 63, the AIRHeart helicopter's pilot from Fort Walton Beach; flight nurse Jack Chase, 47, of Santa Rosa Beach; and Robert Heighton, a Gulf Breeze paramedic.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation.