The Telegraph
NEW SOUTH WALES, Australia — A paramedic was dragged from a rock ledge and fatally dropped 15m into a canyon after his helicopter crew misinterpreted a signal in poor lighting, a safety bureau has found.
NSW Ambulance Service paramedic Michael “Mick” Wilson, 42, died on Christmas Eve, 2011, while trying to rescue an injured canyoner in a delicate mission at Budderoo National Park, south of Wollongong. Mr. Wilson, a highly skilled paramedic, had abseiled down to the injured Chatswood man - who had set off an emergency personal locator beacon a few hours earlier after falling from the top of the cliff.
A helicopter was hovering to winch Mr Wilson and the patient to safety — but a final report released yesterday by the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau found poor light meant the air crewman was not able to clearly see what was going on beneath him.
Full story: NSW Ambulance Service paramedic Michael Wilson died after his helicopter crew misinterpreted a signal