How can someo ne so dispassionately say to family members and the media that ""We believe this to have been a non-survivable crash" Arrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!


Canadian doctor on plane that crashed into Lake Michigan
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 5, 2007 | 4:45 PM ET
CBC News

A Calgary native was part of the organ transplant team believed to be dead after a plane crashed into Lake Michigan on Monday.

Dr. Martinus Spoor, a cardiac surgeon who worked at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, was one of four medical specialists and two pilots on board the Cessna Citation when it crashed into Lake Michigan shortly after 4 p.m.

Dr. Martinus Spoor was one of six people on a plane that crashed into Lake Michigan on Monday. Dr. Martinus Spoor was one of six people on a plane that crashed into Lake Michigan on Monday.
(University of Michigan/Associated Press)

The donor team was transporting various human organs from Milwaukee to a patient in critical condition in the Detroit-area of Michigan.

Rescuers searched for survivors in the 14 C waters, and have so far found only unidentified human remains and small parts of the plane, U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Bruce Jones told reporters Tuesday.

He would not speculate on a cause. Minutes after the plane took off in light rain from General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, a pilot declared an emergency and asked permission to return to the airport. Seconds later, the plane dropped off the radar and was not heard from again.

"We believe this to have been a non-survivable crash," Jones said.

In Canada, Spoor's friends were saddened by the news.

"He was brilliant and he was also passionate about his patients and his career," said Dr. Susan Bannister, a pediatrician in London, Ont., who went to medical school with Spoor.

"He was dedicated to his family and to his patients. He had a phenomenal amount of training and a phenomenal amount of skills that really enabled him to care for his patients in such a wonderful way."

Spoor, 37, received his medical degree from the University of Calgary in 1995 and then studied cardiac surgery at the University of Alberta.

He moved to Ann Arbor, Mich., in 2003 and was most recently working as a clinical surgery instructor for the University of Michigan medical school, according to the school website. He and his wife, Susan, who is also a doctor, lived in Ann Arbor with their three children.

Spoor flew about 10 transplant runs a year.

Also on the plane was:

* Dr. David Ashburn, a fellow in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery.
* Richard Chenault, a transplant donation specialist with the university transplant program.
* Richard LaPensee, a transplant donation specialist with the university transplant program.
* Dennis Hoyes, a Marlin air pilot.
* Bill Serra, a Marlin air pilot.

All the medical specialists were from the University of Michigan. The pilots regularly flew them on their transplant missions, using a plane leased by the university.

"The thoughts of the entire university community are with the families of those involved this evening, and we take consolation in the fact that the team was on a mission to help another," Dr. Darrell Campbell, chief of staff of the university, said Monday evening.

As soon as Survival Flight dispatchers received word of the incident, they reached the transplant team that had been preparing the patient who was the transplant candidate, and the operation was suspended. The patient remains in critical condition, the university said.

The university wouldn't release any information on the patient, citing confidentiality.
With files from the Associated Press


http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/06/05/planecrash.html

Jane, that is really tragic.