California authorities said three people are in the hospital in critical condition after a medical helicopter crashed on a major highway in Sacramento. The helicopter had taken off from the University of California Davis Medical Center on Monday night and was heading north before the crash.
The three people injured included two women and a man who were all on board the helicopter before it went down. Authorities say the crash happened at about 7 p.m. on Highway 50. One of the victims was trapped under the helicopter. A group of about 15 bystanders quickly jumped in to help lift the wreckage and pull the victim to safety, according to KCRA.
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What did witnesses say?
Davyd Bychkoviak, who spoke with CNN, said he saw the crash and captured it on video. He said he started filming when he saw the helicopter but soon noticed it was getting too low.
“My first thought was that it was going to fly into me,” he told CNN. “But there was a bad traffic jam, so I couldn’t move — I couldn’t do anything.”
The video shows the helicopter coming in close before the camera turns the other way, then a loud mechanical sound is heard and the camera pans back to capture debris flying everywhere. What’s left of the helicopter is then quickly covered in a thick cloud of white smoke.
Images of the debris field show the helicopter lying on its side with the cockpit window destroyed. The crash blocked both eastbound lanes of the highway for some time.
What are the details of the flight?
According to CNN, no patients were on board when it crashed, only a pilot, a nurse and a paramedic. Records also show that the helicopter was from REACH Air Medical Services.
In a statement, the company said it knew about the crash and is working to determine the details of what led up to the crash.
REACH, headquartered in Sacramento, provides critical air and ground transport services to communities in California, Nevada, Oregon, Colorado and Wyoming.
The California Highway Patrol, the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA have all opened investigations into the wreck.
