UNC Air Operations Medical Plane Crashes at RDU: A Closer Look at the Service and Its Importance

On Wednesday, a UNC Air Operations medical plane carrying Dr. Paul Chelminski, an internal medicine physician with UNC Health, crashed at RDU around 10:10 a.m. Chelminski was taken to the hospital and released Wednesday afternoon, while the pilot, Art Johnson, was taken to Duke University Medical Center in Durham and is in fair condition. The incident occurred during an average day for one of these planes which usually flies between five to seven flights every day with between one to three people on board.

This particular plane was part of a fleet of six that UNC Air Operations uses for transporting medical professionals to different locations. On this particular day, Chelminski had just given a lecture at Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington before the crash happened. Amanda Cotton, a nurse practitioner who works with UNC Air Operations, emphasized the importance of the service provided by the organization. She stated that it makes the lives of medical professionals easier by allowing them to travel more efficiently. Instead of having 19 patients travel back to Chapel Hill, it is more convenient for her to travel to different locations for work.

The weather at the time of the crash was mostly cloudy, but no rain was reported. Weather is not believed to be a factor in the incident as it was clear skies when the plane took off from Chapel Hill earlier that morning.