Air Ambulance Crash Kills 3 in Florida
SANTA ROSA BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 20) - A helicopter used as an air ambulance crashed into a bay early Wednesday, killing all three crew members aboard, officials said. Two bodies were recovered and divers were looking for the third victim.
The Eurocopter BO-105 left Santa Rosa Beach bound for DeFuniak Springs, about 25 miles away, to transfer a critically ill heart patient to a Pensacola hospital.
No patients were aboard when the chopper crashed, said Mike Burke, a spokesman for Sacred Heart Health Systems, which operates hospitals in Santa Rosa Beach and Pensacola.
The crew members included the pilot, a Sacred Heart nurse and a fire department paramedic. Their identities were not immediately released.
"We have lost three brave people, true heroes who dedicated themselves to saving the lives of others," Sacred Heart president and CEO Patrick J. Madden said in a statement.
Walton County Search and Rescue divers found two bodies in the wreckage in Choctawhatchee Bay and continued a search, said Lt. Stan Kirkland of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Sacred Heart officials said the crew radioed minutes after departure that they were aborting the mission because of bad weather and were heading back to the hangar at Santa Rosa Beach. There was no distress call then and no further communication with the helicopter.
Crash debris was found in the bay near the U.S. 331 bridge, about 75 miles east of Pensacola, Burke said. The heart patient was transferred by ambulance; no further information was disclosed.
The aircraft is one of two AIRHeart helicopters owned by Metro Aviation Inc. of Shreveport, La., that Sacred Heart operates in the Florida Panhandle. Sacred Heart has hospitals in Pensacola and Santa Rosa Beach.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.
10-20-04 18:42 EDT
SANTA ROSA BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 20) - A helicopter used as an air ambulance crashed into a bay early Wednesday, killing all three crew members aboard, officials said. Two bodies were recovered and divers were looking for the third victim.
The Eurocopter BO-105 left Santa Rosa Beach bound for DeFuniak Springs, about 25 miles away, to transfer a critically ill heart patient to a Pensacola hospital.
No patients were aboard when the chopper crashed, said Mike Burke, a spokesman for Sacred Heart Health Systems, which operates hospitals in Santa Rosa Beach and Pensacola.
The crew members included the pilot, a Sacred Heart nurse and a fire department paramedic. Their identities were not immediately released.
"We have lost three brave people, true heroes who dedicated themselves to saving the lives of others," Sacred Heart president and CEO Patrick J. Madden said in a statement.
Walton County Search and Rescue divers found two bodies in the wreckage in Choctawhatchee Bay and continued a search, said Lt. Stan Kirkland of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Sacred Heart officials said the crew radioed minutes after departure that they were aborting the mission because of bad weather and were heading back to the hangar at Santa Rosa Beach. There was no distress call then and no further communication with the helicopter.
Crash debris was found in the bay near the U.S. 331 bridge, about 75 miles east of Pensacola, Burke said. The heart patient was transferred by ambulance; no further information was disclosed.
The aircraft is one of two AIRHeart helicopters owned by Metro Aviation Inc. of Shreveport, La., that Sacred Heart operates in the Florida Panhandle. Sacred Heart has hospitals in Pensacola and Santa Rosa Beach.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.
10-20-04 18:42 EDT
