Alzheimer’s patient is back with family
A Worley man who was reported missing on Friday has been reunited with his family, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department reported.
Herbert William Cambra, who is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, was found about 4 a.m. Saturday near Ritzville, Sgt. John Laine said in a press release. Cambra had last been seen by his family about 2 p.m. Friday.
Search crews look for helicopter wreckage
Edmonds, Wash.
Divers from the Coast Guard and local police Saturday reviewed sonar images taken of the seafloor as searchers tried to find the wreckage of a medical transport helicopter that crashed in Puget Sound, killing a pilot and two nurses.
Crews were focusing their search in the large debris field left by the Agusta A109/Mark II twin-engine helicopter when it plunged into the sound off Edmonds, about 15 miles north of Seattle. A Coast Guard vessel was using sonar to search for wreckage that sank in about 300 feet of water.
Killed in the crash were pilot Steve Smith, 59, of Whidbey Island, and nurses Erin Reed, 48, and Lois Suzuki, 47, both of Seattle. They were identified by Airlift Northwest, operator of the aircraft.
Search crews found the remains of one body Friday, but they had yet to find anything more by Saturday afternoon, said Jim Struhsaker, a senior air investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board in Seatac.
The agency is investigating the cause of the crash.
Struhsaker said the dive team had been at the site for several hours Saturday, but he did not know if they had entered the water.
“If they can’t do enough today, by the middle of next week we’ll be using a remote operating vehicle from Seattle” to get a better view of the seabed, Struhsaker said.
The helicopter crashed Thursday night after having flown a critically ill 62-year-old man from a hospital in Arlington to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Weather at the time included areas of fog and mist and some gusty winds.
Airlift Northwest, based in Seattle, provides emergency air transport service for critically ill or injured patients in Washington, Alaska, Montana, Idaho and western Canada.