A medical helicopter crashed early Saturday north of Reno near the Nevada-California state line. The crash killed all three crew members aboard, officials said.
The helicopter had just dropped off a patient at a hospital in Reno, NV, Renown Medical Center. The chopper was returning to its base in Susanville, CA, The aircraft was destroyed in the crash and fire; the cause of the crash wasn't known.
Authorities say a medical helicopter crashed on an Indian reservation in Arizona during a training flight, seriously wounding both people on board.
The helicopter was operated by Mountain Lifeflight out of Susanville, CA. The company confirmed the loss of the crew members via a brief statement.
The crash follows by only a little over a week another crash which occurred during a medical helicopter training flight. That crash occurred on an Indian reservation in Arizona. Two were injured, but none fatally.
Medical helicopter crashes occur far too commonly. In February, theNational Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) held a four day hearing on how to stem the "drastic increase" in medical helicopter accidents. The NTSB said there were 55 EMS-related aviation accidents, both fatal and nonfatal, between January of 2002 and January of 2005 that could have been prevented with "simple corrective actions." 54 people were killed, and 18 were seriously injured in those crashes.
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