KELLEY ALEXANDER B #1

CW2 Alexander "Alex" B. Kelley was a VHPA member who died after his tour in Vietnam on 07/28/2010 at the age of 61.6 from A/C accident
Tucson, AZ
Flight Class 69-5
Date of Birth 12/19/1948
Served in the U.S. Army
Served in Vietnam with C/159 AVN 101 ABN in 69-70
Call sign in Vietnam PLAYTEX 27
This information was provided by E-mail and Tuscon Newpaper

More detail on this person: Company says no distress call before helicopter crash, Posted: Jul 29, 2010 4:51 PM EDT, Updated: Jul 29, 2010 7:48 PM EDT

By Mindy Blake - email

TUCSON, AZ (KOLD) - Flags are flying at half staff in Tucson in memory of the three people who lost their lives in a medical helicopter crash in Tucson Wednesday.

They were on a B38 Star helicopter that went down in a neighborhood at Park and Glenn. Firefighters pulled two people from the burning wreckage. They later died at University Medical Center. A third victim died at the scene. The crew is identified as 61-year old pilot Alex Kelley of Tucson, 28-year old paramedic Brenda French from Safford, and 41-year old nurse Parker Summons, from Tucson.

Air Methods Corporation owns the helicopter and seven others like it in Arizona. On Thursday, company spokesman Craig Yale said there was no distress call to Tucson International Airport from the helicopter before it went down. There was no black box on the aircraft, but there was a computer that monitors the engine. It will be sent to the manufacturer to be read. It could take months before anyone knows what caused the helicopter to go down. It only had 350 hours flying time, and was put in service one year ago. Yale said the helicopter had just left a facility in Marana for routine maintenance before it went down. He said Pilot Kelley had 14-thousand hours flying time, a very experienced pilot.

c2010 KOLD. All rights reserved.

Alex served with Platex C Company, 159th ASHB, 101st ABN Div 1969-70. He participated in the last major US battle in Vietnam for Firebase Ripcord. Alex was a fearless and excellent pilot. After he left the Army, he flew for the US Border Patrol and retired from the position of supervisor of Tuscon Air Operations in 2002. Alex continued to fly as a medevac pilot for the Air Metland (LifeNet) until his death on July 28th. Alex died a hero after his helicopter had engine failure and possible tail rotor failure. He managed to maneuver his helicopter around several houses saving the lives of many people on the ground. Alex and two medics unfortunately perished in the crash.

Alex was one of the founding members of VHPA and enjoyed attending the reunions with his wife Vera.

Alex is survived by his wonderful wife, Vera, son Ian, daughter Paige, stepsons Lanny and Shane, and stepdaughter Kristen. He will be greatly missed by family and friends.

I was fortunate to serve with Alex in Vietnam as his Platoon Leader and I can honestly say he was a great pilot who never hesitated at taking a mission no matter how dangerous it was. I will never forget Alex and I will always miss his friendship.

From: Dale Buzz Ireland

This information was last updated 05/18/2016

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