The helicopters have to stop
This scary accident shows why medevac helicopters must be barred from flying over Shipoke and other neighborhoods in the city of Harrisburg on their way to and from Pinnacle Hospital. The helicopters frequently fly directly over Shipoke. The noise can be deafening, enough to wake you up, but my main concern has always been safety.
According to the Patriot-News story, the Stat-Medevac helicopter landed at 3 a.m. with a poisoning patient from Sayre, Pa., probably the Guthrie Clinic. When the helicopter tried to take off from Pinnacle's rooftop landing pad, he almost immediately lost power and crashed back to the roof.
What if that helicopter had gotten airborne and then lost engine power? Pinnacle has a populated neighborhood along Washington Street just a block south of the helipad, and Shipoke is barely three blocks to the south. He could well have come crashing down into occupied homes. Pinnacle operates this service for public service, but also revenue and, yes, prestige. If what the hospital said when it applied for the service was true, these aren't car accident victims scooped off the highway. They are people coming in for surgery or other treatment that isn't offered at smaller hospitals in the region like the Guthrie Clinic.
If Pinnacle insists on these flights, they need to be routed over the Susquehanna River, not over Shipoke. The overflights have to stop NOW. If that's inconvenient for pilots, too bad. Or they could land at Capital City Airport in New Cumberland and transfer the patients to ambulances for a quick ride across the river. There are several options for this service that do not require the people of Shipoke to risk their own safety for a profit-making venture for Pinnacle.