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This is a blog version of a Facebook posting on March 25, 2025<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Recounting the fatal helicopter crash in downtown Kernersville on September 25, 1984, during the attempted rescue\/recovery of an injured worker atop a decommissioned water tower.<\/p>\n The incident started about 6:10 p.m. after 19 year-old Charles Glenwood Tompkins Jr. was injured while working atop a water tower that was being dismantled. He was cutting a 20-foot section of metal from the top of one of the tower legs. The metal beam fell in the wrong direction and crushed his legs. He was 92 feet above the ground, the NTSB report later noted. Initial reports were 110 feet.<\/p>\n The resulting response included Kernersville Fire, Forsyth County EMS, Forsyth Rescue Squad, and Winston-Salem Fire Department. The latter included a battalion chief and Aerial __, a 75-foot snorkel. Readers, anyone with a surviving run card or summary?<\/p>\n There were at least 45 members of EMS, rescue, and fire departments, along with at least nine officers from the town, the county, and the highway patrol. For more than two hours, crews attempted to reach the injured man.<\/p>\n After the fire department\u2019s snorkel proved too short, a \u201ccherry picker\u201d from F. H. Goode\u2019s tree service was brought to the scene. Two fences were cut down, so the bucket truck could get closer. The 90-foot reach was also too short.<\/p>\n Rescuers Climb the Tower<\/strong><\/p>\n At that point, Forsyth County EMS paramedic Allen Mock and Winston-Salem Rescue Squad member Bruce Hatton both climbed the tower to attempt a rescue. Mock later told the Winston-Salem Journal they first planned to carry the victim down on Mock\u2019s shoulder. But they decided that the victim had lost too much blood and was too weak to hold on.<\/p>\n He and Hatton tried a second plan, lowering the victim with a rope. But that didn\u2019t work, the victim was first thrashing and shifting his weight, and then became weaker and started to pass out. Soon, the victim\u2019s full weight was on the safety belt and chain. They were unable to lift the victim to effect a rope rescue. He believed the victim died soon after.<\/p>\n Helicopter Requested<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr. Lew W. Stringer, chief county medical examiner, was in charge of the rescue. He wanted a helicopter for the rescue and contacted WFMY, which rented their aircraft from Triad Helicopter. They were chosen as they had the closest helicopter, and their agency was the easiest to reach.<\/p>\n Noted the next day\u2019s Winston-Salem Journal, this was the first time that Forsyth County rescuers had attempted a helicopter rescue. Stringer also said he\u2019d been trying to get a helicopter to the scene for about two hours.<\/p>\n The Bell 206 helicopter arrived and landed at a football field at Kernersville Junior High School. Thomas Haroski was piloting. He was also the executive vice president of Triad Helicopter. Steve Richey of Forsyth Rescue Squad climbed aboard. It lifted back off at 9:13 p.m.<\/p>\n As Mock recalled, the victim was alive when the helicopter arrived and circled overhead. But by the time it was hovering over the tower, the victim had died. The rescue had turned into a recovery operation and they continued. A section of rope, about 50 feet long, had been dropped down to Mock, but he was unable to reach it. The helicopter flew lower and its tail dipped between two of the tower legs.<\/p>\n Tail Rotor Struck Tower Leg<\/strong><\/p>\n Hatton later said both he and Dr. Stringer tried to reach the pilot on the radio and tell him that he was flying too low, but the pilot was apparently unable to hear them. Noted officials two days later, the tower legs were in the pilot\u2019s blind spots. The tail rotor struck one of the tower\u2019s legs and the helicopter pitched forward. It was 9:46 p.m., noted the later NTSB report. (Versus the 9:52 p.m. time noted in newspaper accounts.)<\/p>\n As some 350 spectators watched, the main rotor struck a leg of the tower and the helicopter pitched forward and struck the rear of a building at 114 W. Mountain Street. The two-story building housed four apartments and a barber shop. Both the pilot and the squad member aboard were killed.<\/p>\n The crash started fires on the roof and inside the building. It also caused a gas leak, knocking off a regulator that took about 45 minutes to seal.<\/p>\n Mock and Hatton were able to climb down safely from the tower, after the crash. Workers later that night recovered the pilot\u2019s body from the wreckage, but the Richey\u2019s body remained in the helicopter while firefighters fought the flames.<\/p>\n Said Mock of the crash, he felt something heavy hit his back and heard a tremendous noise. He caught a glimpse of the falling helicopter and he \u201cjust held on,\u201d pulling himself into the tower and thinking that the crashing helicopter was going to collapse the tower. He then saw flaming wreckage beneath him and only started down when he saw firefighters dousing flames on the roof top.<\/p>\n Aftermath<\/strong><\/p>\n Said Hatton later of Steve Richey, the squad member killed in the crash, he was \u201cprobably one of the most extensively trained people in the business.\u201d And though he didn\u2019t have experience in helicopter rescue, he was specifically trained for it.<\/p>\n Richey was 33 years old and had joined Forsyth Rescue Squad when he reached the minimum age of 21. Recounted his wife, much of their life for the last ten years had revolved around the rescue squad. On their first date on May 11, 1974, they went to a movie, then to Arby\u2019s, and then, to her surprise, they rushed off to an emergency call. By day, he worked as a preventive-maintenance supervisor at Baptist Hospital, where she also worked as a supervisor in the mail room.<\/p>\n It was later noted that Thomas Haroski had spent 2,010 hours flying a helicopter including 100 of those at night, according to a report he completed in July. However, he had never flown a rescue mission like this one. He had also been informed that the victim had died, but decided to proceed with the operation anyway.<\/p>\n The 1927 tower was being dismantled by Westbrook Iron Company of Lumberton. A parking lot was planned for the site. Fire officials later determined that the worker failed to make a correct cut, causing the leg section to fall the wrong way.<\/p>\n Over the next number of days, officials and other fire and rescue agency members offered perspectives and opinions on the incident. They speculated and second-guessed, with ideas ranging from calling the National Guard instead of a private aviation company to wishing they had thought to summon a construction crane to the scene. The latter was used to remove the body of Charles Tompkins from atop the tower.<\/p>\n Transcript of Radio Traffic<\/b><\/p>\n Both the Sentinel and Winston-Salem Journal printed this transcript of radio traffic between Hatton, Dr. Stringer, FCEMS paramedic Roger Kiger, and other unidentified rescuers:<\/p>\n 9:44:25 \u2013 Hatton: \u201cNo problem, we\u2019re looking pretty good up here.\u201d<\/p>\n 9:45:17 \u2013 Kiger: \u201cTell him to just take his time. He\u2019ll put it over there to him. Tell him to just take his time.\u201d<\/p>\n 9:45:26 \u2013 Kiger: \u201cDon\u2019t come no lower, Tom. Don\u2019t come no lower.\u201d<\/p>\n 9:45:30 \u2013 Hatton: \u201cWatch the rotor on the tower. You\u2019re only two feet from it.\u201d<\/p>\n 9:45:40 \u2013 Hatton: \u201cTell him to move it out forward \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n 9:45:44 \u2013 Hatton: \u201c \u2026 in the tower \u2026 \u201c<\/p>\n 9:45:45 \u2013 Speaker unknown: \u201c \u2026 hit the rear rotor!\u201d<\/p>\n 9:46:06 \u2013 Hatton: \u201cYou\u2019re in the tower! Watch the tower and the tail rotor!\u201d<\/p>\n 9:46:17 \u2013 Stringer: \u201cTell him not to come any lower.\u201d<\/p>\n 9:46:21 \u2013 Hatton: \u201cHe\u2019s against the tower! He\u2019s against the tower!\u201d<\/p>\n 9:46:27 \u2013 Speaker unknown: \u201cReturn 803 [Stringer\u2019s radio code], Return 803, chopper down \u2026 \u201c<\/p>\n 9:46:30 \u2013 Speaker unknown: \u201c \u2026 we\u2019ve got a down unit.\u201d<\/p>\n NTSB Report<\/strong><\/p>\n The subsequent NTSB report issued twelve findings for probably cause:<\/p>\n 1. (F) Light Condition \u2013 Night<\/p>\n 2. (F) Unsafe\/Hazardous Condition – Attempted – Pilot In Command<\/p>\n 3. (F) Crew\/Group Coordination \u2013 Inadequate<\/p>\n 4. (F) Air\/Ground Communications \u2013 Inadequate<\/p>\n 5. (F) Proper Assistance – Not Obtained – Pilot In Command<\/p>\n 6. (F) Object – High Obstruction(S)<\/p>\n 7. (C) Clearance – Misjudged – Pilot In Command<\/p>\n 8. (F) Self-Induced Pressure – Pilot In Command<\/p>\n 9. (F) Lack Of Total Experience In Type Operation – Pilot In Command<\/p>\n 10. (F) Lack Of Familiarity With Aircraft – Other Crewmember<\/p>\n 11. (F) Overconfidence In Personal Ability – Pilot In Command<\/p>\n 12. (F) Visual\/Aural Perception – Pilot In Command<\/p>\n Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n Read the newspaper articles + NTSB report in this Google Drive folder<\/a>.<\/p>\n