A SkyLife Air Medical helicopter is reported to have crashed in California, US, in heavy rain and fog, killing all four people onboard.
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Pilot Thomas Hampl, Nurse Marco Lopez and Paramedic Kyle Juarez as well as the patient all died when the helicopter went down east of McFarland in Kern County Thursday night.
Officials say all four people aboard are dead after a medical helicopter crashed in Central California.
Rescuers from Kern County’s fire department and sheriff’s office deployed to the location of the helicopter’s last known Global Positioning System signal and found a debris field near the town of McFarland.
American Ambulance General Manager Todd Valeri told the AP that “weather conditions are always a factor”, but the weather hasn’t officially been blamed for the crash.
Valeri said this is the first time an Air Ambulance helicopter crashed. Kern County deputies and fire crews, slowed by fog and darkness, reached the scene about 10 p.m. and confirmed that the patient and the crew of three had perished.
He says the perishable evidence is being collected before the helicopter is moved to a Sacramento warehouse for the long-term investigation.
The names of the crew and the patient were not released Thursday night.
“The tragedy that occurred is further evidence of how unsafe it is for the men and women who are out there trying to save lives”, EMS Director, Fresno County EMS Director Dan Lynch said in a press conference.
The crew worked for SkyLife, a medical transport service jointly owned by American Ambulance and Rogers Helicopters.
The study urged evaluation of each flight’s risk before each mission and formal procedures for dispatch and monitoring of flights, using a dispatcher with specific aviation knowledge and experience to provide the pilot “with consistent and critical weather information, assisting in go/no go decisions, and monitoring the flight’s position”.
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Bakersfield and Fresno are both located north of Los Angeles.
