By Tim Schmidt Record Managing Editor Each day, paramedics with the Warren County Ambulance District share quarters with personnel from ARCH, the air medical service. They eat together and watch …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
Attention subscribers
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, or you are a print subscriber who had access to our previous wesbite, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you have not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
If you are a current print subscriber and did not have a user account on our previous website, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue
Need an account?
Print and web subscribers
If you're a print and web subscriber, but do not yet have an online account, click here to create one.
Online-only subscribers
If you are a digital subscriber with an active, online-only subscription then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
Non-subscribers
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
Pilot’s death hits home
Posted
By Tim SchmidtRecord Managing EditorEach day, paramedics with the Warren County Ambulance District share quarters with personnel from ARCH, the air medical service.They eat together and watch television together in between emergency calls. They get to know each other. They become close.Some days, paramedics and ARCH personnel respond to the same accident scene to treat a patient.So when ARCH pilot Ronald Rector was killed March 6 in a crash involving one of the company’s medical helicopters, it hit home. Rector was based in Warrenton at the ambulance district’s facility on Fairgrounds Road. He shared in the meals. He sat on the couch watching TV.“They become one of the family,” said Ralph Hellebusch, ambulance district administrator. Rector, 52, of Linn, was the only person aboard the ARCH helicopter when it went down around 11:10 p.m. just west of St. Louis University Hospital. He was returning to the hospital to pick up the crew after earlier dropping off a patient.The cause of the crash is not known, but according to a preliminary report released last week by the National Transportation Safety Board, strong wind gusts were reported when the helicopter landed the first time.A memorial service honoring Rector was held Friday at Harvester Christian Church in St. Charles and was attended by dozens of emergency responder agencies from throughout the region, including personnel from Warrenton and Wright City fire protection districts and Warren County Ambulance District.“I think it was good for our people,” Hellebusch said. “It was good for the ARCH crew.”Rector’s funeral was held in Linn on Thursday. He is survived by his wife, Jody; and two children, Roxanne Alden and Ryan Rector.Rector began working for ARCH in October 2013 out of the Warrenton base, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was previously a pilot for Blue Hawaiian Helicopters in Hawaii and a pilot and instructor for the U.S. Army. He served for 32 years in the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force.Wright City Fire Chief Ron MacKnight described Rector as always being “very, very professional.” On numerous occasions he talked to Rector on the radio while ARCH was responding to an emergency call.MacKnight said the fatal crash has impacted his department.“Something that is tragic like what happened gets you,” he said. “We are out here doing the same thing and that’s serving the people in our district. Law enforcement, fire, EMS, it’s a pretty tight community. It certainly affects us.”While it is a sad time for emergency responders, it’s also a chance to unite each of the agencies.“All in all, ARCH has had a safe record all these years,” Hellebusch said. “We have to realize too, that whether it’s ambulance, fire or law enforcement, you do lose somebody. It’s one of those things you have to learn to live with.”
Members of the Patriot Guard Riders and emergency responder personnel stand outside the entrance to Harvester Christian Church prior to a memorial service remembering Ronald Rector, who died in a helicopter crash March 6. Rector was an ARCH pilot based in Warrenton. Bill Barrett photos.
