The 1979 U.S. Park Police Bell 206L-1 LongRanger II, S/N 45287, call sign “Eagle 1,” that was used to rescue the five survivors of the January 1982 Washington, D.C., Air Florida crash, has been found, restored, and will be on permanent display in the new National Law Enforcement Museum when it opens in the nation’s capital late next week.
Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737-222, N62AF, crashed shortly after takeoff from Washington National Airport (DCA) at 4:01 p.m. on January 13, 1982 during a snowstorm, clipping the 14th Street Bridge and crashing into the icy Potomac River, killing 74 of the 79 aboard. The NTSB determined the cause of the crash was the pilots’ failure to activate appropriate aircraft deicing systems and failing to promptly abort takeoff after noticing abnormal engine power readings.
Eagle 1, N22PP, responded to the crash site from its hangar in Anacostia Park and was on scene by 4:20 p.m. Pilot Donald Usher and paramedic Melvin “Gene” Windsor maneuvered the helicopter inches above ice floes in the river, with Windsor walking out on the skids, grabbing survivors from the river, and pulling them to safety. At times Usher had the skids in the water. For their professionalism and their bravery, Usher and Windsor received the 1982 American Helicopter Society Captain William J. Kossler, USCG Award “given for the greatest achievement in the practical application or operation of a vertical flight aircraft.”
In an oral history he gave to the National Law Enforcement Museum last year, Usher recalled conditions on the day of the crash; 200- to 300- foot ceiling obscured with a quarter to half-mile visibility in blowing snow. “There was no way we were going to fly,” he recalled. Until the phone rang in the “Eagle’s Nest” with the report that “Palm 90” was down. On launch, Usher said the ceiling was 200 feet with visibility at a quarter mile. He navigated by looking straight down through the chin bubble maintaining ground reference with the street lights below. It stopped snowing when they reached the 14th Street Bridge.
The Park Police operated S/N 45287 until 1998, when it was transferred to the Interior Department in Boise, Idaho, and reregistered N613. It was due to be scrapped before being located and obtained by the museum. The National Law Enforcement Museum is located in the Motorola Solutions Foundation Building at Judiciary Square in Washington, D.C.