Four people have been killed in a medevac helicopter crash in Kern County, California.
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Searchers later found a debris field and there were no survivors, Kern County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Bill Smallwood officials told NBC News.
“These were very experienced full-time crew members”, Valeri said before adding that this was the first time the company suffered such an accident since its inception in 1991.
A debris field was located just outside McFarland, but fog inhibited the search from above, Lynch said.
The four victims were the pilot, a nurse, a paramedic, and a patient.
The cause of the crash was still unknown.
Valeri said, “People are absolutely devastated…”
The helicopter went down on cattle-grazing hills near the town of McFarland, 135 miles northwest of Los Angeles. At 6:52 p.m., the crew notified flight dispatch that it was leaving Porterville. Kern County sheriff’s deputies secured a road leading to the site.
According to the FAA the tail number of the helicopter matches that of an American Ambulance Helicopter out of Fresno.
The Fresno County EMS dispatch center lost contact with the helicopter at 7:05 p.m. Thursday. Lynch oversees emergency medical services in Fresno, Madera, Kings and Tulare counties.
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SkyLife Air Ambulance is a partnership between American Ambulance and Rogers Helicopters, and they operate three air ambulance helicopters out of the Fresno and Visalia airports. But it was unable reach the aircraft, Lynch said.
