Ceremony Marks 30th Anniversary of Plane Crash That Killed Three Including Paramedic

 

Flags outside Essex-Windsor EMS bases were flying at half-mast Monday in memory of Paramedic Russ Ransome, who was killed 30 years ago today with two others when an air ambulance ferrying a patient to Windsor from Pelee Island crashed shortly after takeoff.

 

Ransome, 28, was the ambulance attendant on a Piper Navajo Chieftain that crashed into Lake Erie on June 24, 1989. The plane was transporting patient Margaret Fraser to Windsor. Fraser survived, as did the plane’s co-pilot. Ransome was killed along with Fraser’s husband, Ken, and the pilot, Frederick Allen Lewis.

Ransome’s brother Kevin and long-time friend Andre Marcotte attended a private remembrance ceremony at the Leamington dock Monday along with Fraser and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Paramedics past and present gathered wearing orange and black ribbons.

 

Chief Bruce Krauter, who knew Ransome as a friend and colleague, remembered the sacrifice he made in the line of duty. There was a moment of silence followed by a final ambulance dispatch call for Ransome. A bagpiper played Amazing Grace and flowers were placed on the water as a sign of remembrance.

 

Ransome was the president of OPSEU Local 136 and his death left a huge hole in the union and the service. He was a father to a one-year-old daughter. He met his wife, Tracy, an ambulance dispatcher, on the job. Tracy passed away in 2008.

Essex-Windsor EMS would like to thank Oak Farms in Leamington for the donation of flowers and the Town of Leamington for allowing the use of the dock.

We will never forget.