Officers are investigating after a medical helicopter crashed on a Sacramento freeway Monday night, critically injuring the three folks on board, authorities mentioned.
The Sacramento Fireplace Division mentioned a REACH helicopter went down shortly after 7 p.m. on eastbound Freeway 50 close to 59th Road. In line with the Nationwide Transportation Security Board, the helicopter had simply taken off from the UC Davis Medical Middle and was destined for Redding.
Three crew members — a pilot, a nurse and a paramedic — had been within the helicopter and suffered vital accidents, Captain Justin Sylvia of Sacramento Fireplace mentioned. All three had been taken to the UC Davis Medical Middle for therapy, UC Davis officers said.
The household of the nurse recognized her in a press release as Suzie Smith.
“Suzie is at the moment receiving superb care at UC Davis Medical Middle in Sacramento. She is in vital situation with a number of severe accidents. Those that know Susie know that she is a troublesome and robust girl,” the assertion mentioned.
The helicopter had taken a affected person to a hospital and was returning to its dispatch level when it had an “in-air emergency,” The Related Press quotes Sylvia as saying.
No autos on the freeway had been concerned, which Sylvia informed the AP was “thoughts blowing” because the plane crashed within the middle of the freeway.
Video obtained by CBS Sacramento from an individual inside a car within the westbound lanes of the freeway captured the second the helicopter went down.
Two crew members had been positioned within the roadway whereas one of many crew members was trapped underneath the helicopter when the primary unit from the fireplace division arrived, Sylvia mentioned. A hearth captain and bystanders who supplied assist had been in a position to elevate the plane off the trapped crew member.
“We’re within the strategy of figuring out the main points of this case, in addition to the situation of the REACH crew concerned, who had been all taken to space hospitals,” REACH mentioned in a press release, including that it’s “maintaining all these impacted in our ideas and prayers.”
The helicopter concerned was an Airbus EC-130 T2, based on the NTSB.
One lane of Eastbound Freeway 50 had been reopened at 59th Road to permit for site visitors to go by, the California Freeway Patrol mentioned. All Freeway 50 lanes had been reopened by early Tuesday morning.
CBS Sacramento
The reason for the crash stays underneath investigation. The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Workplace mentioned it’s aiding the CHP, which mentioned it’ll assist the NTSB within the probe. The Federal Aviation Administration says will probably be investigating.
