Three passengers of a medical helicopter were in critical condition after the machine crashed on motorway 50 in Sacramento – such an violent impact that the first stakeholders were amazed that anyone who came out alive. A passenger was ejected and landed 3 meters from the helicopter, and another was stuck under the wreckage, the authorities said.
“I am shocked that anyone speaks, be awake or live that,” said Sacramento firefighters, Captain Justin Sylvia.
A REach Red Air Ambulance helicopter crashed in the tracks east of highway 50, just west of the 59th street, with three staff members on board on Monday at 7:08 p.m., he said. Two women and a man were transported to a hospital in critical condition.
The first captain of the on -site firefighters used the help of fifteen passers -by to raise part of the helicopter from one of the victims who was stuck below, said Sylvia. Another victim was rescued from a helicopter chair ejected during the accident.
It seems that the helicopter has sunk into the land embankment on the edge of the highway, tearing off the weeds with its tail rotor before slipping on five lanes of highway.
Reach air ambulances are used to transport patients to hospitals, often from rural or difficult to access places. At the time of the accident, there was no patient on board and it was not immediately known what had caused the accident.
“We are aware of an accident involving a Reach Air Medical helicopter on motorway 50 in Sacramento tonight and keep all the people affected in our thoughts and our prayers,” the company said in a statement shared with the Times. “We are determining the details of this situation, as well as the state of the involved Reach team, which have all been taken to hospitals in the region. We will continue to provide information as soon as they are available.”
According to the Flightrader24 flight tracking website, the helicopter had taken off from the California Davis medical center in Sacramento and headed north before the accident.
The incident caused significant traffic jams on the highway 50. From 8 p.m., the tracks in the west were fluid, but the tracks in the direction will probably remain closed for the rest of the night, said Sylvia.
One of the main concerns is to guarantee that the fuel remaining in the helicopter does not ignite while the firefighters and the California Highway Patrol investigate the accident, he added.
