State police helicopter audit delayed

Maintenance, staffing to be a focus as lawmakers ponder private operations

Susan Whitney⁄The Gazette Since 1970, the Maryland State Police Aviation Command has transported more than 120,000 patients on medical evacuation missions, which account for the vast majority of state police flights. An audit of the helicopter division will not be complete until this summer. Featured Jobs Loading...

Sen. James E. DeGrange Sr., chairman of the capital subcommittee, said he supports a replacement plan. ‘‘How we get there is the question, over the long haul. But we will get there.”

On Feb. 1, O’Malley (D) announced the first set of the plan, $33.6 million to purchase three new helicopters.

Legislators will consider whether it makes sense to retain the frames of the existing helicopters and refurbish them with new parts, a cost that ‘‘could be out of reach,” DeGrange said.

The fleet comprises 12 Eurocopter Dauphin helicopters. Nine of the helicopters are almost 18 years old, two are 13 years old and one is eight years old.

‘‘Everything I’ve heard is that they should be replaced,” said DeGrange (D-Dist. 32) of Glen Burnie. He said lawmakers could alter the timeframe for replacing the entire fleet. ‘‘We need to get started and get the three done.”

During the special session, the General Assembly set aside $110 million in revenue from a 1 percent increase in state sales tax to go toward new state police helicopters.

The General Assembly’s Joint Audit Committee in July ordered the audit of the Maryland State Police Aviation Command to look at helicopter maintenance and inspection, at staffing and training, at the use of the helicopters for activities that are ‘‘other than the primary mission” and at how the division measures its performance during the ‘‘Golden Hour” when helicopters are used as time savers in the critical first minutes of a medical emergency.

Del. Galen R. Clagett, a member of the Joint Audit Committee, said he is ‘‘not happy,” about the audit report delay, which auditors hoped to have prepared in time for the legislature’s ongoing budget discussions.

‘‘But the auditors found more than the helicopters,” Clagett said. ‘‘They’ve spent an extraordinary amount of time.”

State law bars auditors from revealing their findings until they release the report publicly, which will likely be in ‘‘early summer,” said Bruce A. Myers, the state’s legislative auditor.

‘‘We’re trying to do a good job and be thorough,” Myers said.

Once the job is done, lawmakers are unsure what the next steps will be to address the fleet’s operations.

‘‘It’s hard to say because I don’t know what the results of the audit are,” said Del. Steven J. DeBoy Sr. (D-Dist. 12A) of Arbutus, the audit committee’s House chairman.

The Maryland State Police Aviation Command conducts law enforcement, homeland security, search and rescue and medical evacuation — or medevac — missions. Since 1970, it has transported more than 120,000 patients on medevac missions, which account for the vast majority of state police flights.

The division has gained international recognition as an emergency response model, said Thomas E. Hutchins, who served as state police superintendent under Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R).

‘‘There’s no one nationwide that does it like we do,” he said. ‘‘It’s a tremendous asset. We need to be able to support it.”

Clagett said he does not doubt the state police’s performance in the field, but wants to resolve operational issues that have led to short staffing and lingering maintenance issues. He is prepared to put the division in private hands if necessary.

‘‘My feeling is if they can’t straighten this thing out operationally, I’m prepared to offer a bill to move this under the Department of Transportation and have it operated by civilians,” Clagett said.

To that, DeBoy replied: ‘‘I’m not a fan of that.”

Clagett said he respects the state police, but that ‘‘They’ve demonstrated [the helicopter operation is] out of their scope of management effectiveness.”

Part of the issue is the state police’s slow response to market forces that have led some pilots to leave, Clagett said.

‘‘We can give stability,” said 1st Sgt. Walter A. Kerr, the division’s maintenance operations commander. ‘‘We’re not paying top industry dollar. So that’s a challenge.”

While salary is partially a function of seniority, civilian helicopter pilots make about $58,000 a year, Kerr said. Maintenance technicians make about $50,000.

With the helicopter industry booming, some pilots are leaving the state police for more money.

‘‘They’ve stayed stagnant for a few years with small increases,” said Phillip A. Perez, who left for more money in 2006 after four years as a civilian pilot with the state police.

Ex-military pilots who flew during the Vietnam War are retiring, and it is a seller’s market for pilots offering their services to private clients, like Perez, who lives in Pennsylvania and now flies for a businessman in the Deep Creek Lake area.

‘‘Several folks have come in and looked at the state police and looked at the housing market and said ‘I can’t afford to move [to Maryland],’” he said.

Hanging on to maintenance technicians has taken on heightened importance as the fleet has approached its 20-year life span, Kerr said.

The fleet has not had a fatal crash since 1986. But an incident in April, when a piece of a helicopter’s tail broke off while responding to an emergency call in Carroll County, underscored the need to address maintenance issues, lawmakers said.

‘‘There’s no question that maintenance and parts have been a significant problem in [adding to] the down time of these helicopters,” DeBoy said.

In recent years, the fleet has competed for both parts and staff with the United States military. One pilot returned from deployment this month. Another is returning in March. The division has six openings for pilots, five for maintenance technicians and five for trooper flight paramedics, who must go through the police academy before they can be put into service.

In the end, Perez said, the staffing and maintenance issues lead to the state police playing catch up to hire crews and to move helicopters around the state to fill gaps when one goes out of service.

‘‘The state police is an organization that is very responsive,” he said. ‘‘But it’s an organization that doesn’t like change very well. Sometimes it takes a while for an idea to get through.”

Did it take too long to begin replacing the fleet?

‘‘Basically yes,” Perez said, who said he believes other budget areas have taken priority.

‘‘It’s due,” he said. ‘‘You pay now or you pay later.”