A medical helicopter has crashed onto a busy highway after experiencing an ‘in-air emergency’.
The helicopter had taken a patient to hospital and was returning to base when it started to lose altitude just after 7pm local time yesterday in Sacramento, California.
It crashed onto Highway 50, critically injuring three people, with one of the victims left trapped under the helicopter.
A small crew from the local fire department, as well as other people on the highway, worked together to lift the aircraft off her so she could be rescued and put in an ambulance.
Nobody on the highway itself was injured, Sacramento Fire Department Captain Justin Sylvia said, adding it was ‘mind-blowing’ considering the helicopter crashed in the middle of the road, blocking both eastbound lanes.
He explained: ‘People reported that they basically saw the helicopter kind of going down quickly. So all the traffic slowed down.’
The helicopter pilot, as well as a nurse and paramedic, were all hospitalised after the crash. Its cause is still under investgation.
The company which owns the helicopter, REACH Air Medical, said in a statement it is ‘keeping all those impacted in our thoughts and prayers’.
The statement added: ‘We are in the process of determining the details of this situation, as well as the condition of the REACH crew involved, who were all taken to area hospitals.’
Sacramento city councillor Lisa Kaplan was on a ridealong with police responding to the crash and said there were plumes of white smoke coming from the helicopter wreckage.
She commented: ‘It’s really sombering and sobering. I am up flying with sheriff pilots that do this day in and day out. And it really makes you grateful for every day and grateful for our officers and our medical pilots.’
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