A medical helicopter crashed on a highway in Sacramento, critically injuring three people aboard, including a woman who was pinned underneath and was rescued with the help of motorists who lifted part of the aircraft, according to officials.
The helicopter had taken a patient to a hospital and was on the way back to the place it had been dispatched from when it experienced an “in-air emergency" just after 7 p.m. Monday, said Captain Justin Sylvia, a spokesperson for the Sacramento Fire Department. He said it looks like the helicopter crashed upside-down and left a large debris field.
A pilot, nurse and paramedic were taken to hospitals and were in critical condition, he said. No one on the highway was injured, he said, calling that “mind blowing" given that the helicopter crashed in the center of the highway.
“People reported that they basically saw the helicopter kind of going down quickly. So all the traffic slowed down,” Sylvia said.
One of the people injured was trapped underneath the helicopter and a small crew from the fire department was able to work with people on the highway to push the aircraft off the woman to get her out and into an ambulance.
“It took every ounce of all approximately 15 people to move that aircraft up just enough to get her out,” he said.
The helicopter did not catch on fire, Sylvia said.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration said they were investigating the crash of the Airbus EC-130 T2 helicopter.
The crash closed the eastbound lanes of Highway 50, according to officer Mike Carrillo, a spokesperson for the Valley Division of California Highway Patrol. The lanes have since reopened.
The aircraft was a REACH Air Medical helicopter, according to the company, which said in a statement that they “are keeping all those impacted in our thoughts and prayers.”
“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,” the company's statement said.
In images posted online, a long line of cars on Highway 50 could be seen backed up just behind a crashed helicopter.
“The cause of the crash is still under investigation," Carrillo said, adding that emergency crews and CHP were on the scene.
Sacramento City Councilwoman Lisa Kaplan said she was on a ride along with law enforcement responding to the crash and said there were plumes of white smoke coming out of the crashed helicopter.
“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," she said.
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Associated Press writer Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.