The Minnesota National Guard says three of it's personnel were on board a helicopter that has apparently crashed in rural Stearns County.
News helicopters in the area of Kimball Minnesota are showing what clearly is emergency crews and the wreckage of a helicopter in some trees at the edge of a field on a farm outside of Kimball, MN, which is about 10 miles southwest of the St. Cloud airport, where the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter took off from. The National Guard has confirmed that authorities are on the scene of the crash.
We just arrived at a farm in Kimball, Minnesota.What appears to be a helicopter is tangled in trees.Multiple emergency units on scene.@WCCO #breaking #wcco pic.twitter.com/3MfHdeK58B
— Mary McGuire (@mcguirereports) December 5, 2019The Minnesota National Guard says three people were on the helicopter performing a maintenance test flight, when they lost contact just after two oclock this afternoon. Reports indicate a mayday call was issued from the helicopter, about nine minutes after it took off.
No word yet on the status of the three people on board.
Our first priority is the safety and well-being of our Guardsmen and our thoughts are with oursoldiers and their families at this time.
— MN National Guard (@MNNationalGuard) December 5, 2019Governor Tim Walz is monitoring the situation from the State Capitol, according to his staff. A planned Christmas tree lighting that was scheduled tonight at the Governor's REsidence was called off because of the situation.
830 News Talk's Susie Jones is headed to the area as we speak, and we'll hear from her as soon as she's on site.
The St. Paul Fire Department tweeted that it has sent a rescue squad to St. Cloud in response to a downed aircraft, but it has not been comfirmed that it's the missing helicopter.
Firefighters from @StPaulFireDept Rescue Squad 3 have been deployed in support of a MART activation. There is a report of an aircraft down near Saint Cloud following a mayday. MART is enroute at this time. pic.twitter.com/vDqakxTdcA
— Saint Paul Fire Dept (@StPaulFireDept) December 5, 2019A State Patrol Cirrus aircraft, equipped with thermal imaging cameras, is also helping in the search.
— State Patrol PIO (@MSPPIO) December 5, 2019Keep checking back with WCCO Radio for further developments.
