Bystanders describe lifting wreckage of Sacramento helicopter to free victim trapped after crash landing

Three victims remained in critical condition at a Sacramento hospital Tuesday evening, a day later a medical helicopter crashed on Highway 50.

On board the REACH flight were the pilot, a paramedic and a nurse who was identified to CBS Sacramento by her family as Suzie Smith of Redding. The pilot and rescuer have not yet been identified.

The Sacramento Fire Department said that when they arrived on scene after 7 p.m., their crew asked drivers to help them lift the helicopter to free Smith, who was trapped under the wreckage.

Terry De Crescenzo captured the moment on video as her husband, Ken, and more than a dozen other bystanders ran to help.

It came after the helicopter crashed just a few feet in front of their car. No drivers or passengers on the highway were injured.

“I realized that no other cars in the area had been hit, and I wondered: How did this happen?” asked Terry, with Ken calling it a “miracle.”

The group of people are captured on video lifting the helicopter as paramedics free Smith.

“We just ran up to it and found a place to grab the helicopter and we just pushed it and lifted it as best we could, we had to lift it,” Ken said.

Another driver, Priscilla Cochran-Navarra, also ran to help. She was in the first row of cars that suddenly braked as the helicopter crashed before her eyes.

“At first a few of us tried to lift the helicopter, and at first when I felt how heavy it was, like there was no movement, it wasn’t moving at all. But when about 15 people came to do it, it seemed like the impossible became possible,” Cochran-Navarra said.

Not only that, Cochran-Navarra also says she was the first to go to Smith’s side, comforting the nurse when she was stuck and pleading for help.

“I laid down on the ground and just told him, ‘You’re alive. You’re alive. Stay still.’ I said, “You are not alone. I’m not going to leave you. You are not alone. It was just crazy. It was crazy. Sorry, I’m still playing it. She’s screaming for help, like, “Help me.” Help me,” Cochran-Navarra said through tears.

She said she was proud to see her city come together in this moment.

“It was good to see Sacramento united,” Cochran-Navarra said. “I don’t think I’ve felt this way since 9/11, you know? Back then, everyone came together. It didn’t matter what you did, who you were, who you loved, who you pray to. None of that made any difference.”

These good Samaritans say they are grateful they were in the right place at the right time to help and no one was hurt.

“My first thought was, this is amazing. And I mean it honestly, no one questioned it. Everyone was like, these are human beings who need us, and everyone just ran to help them,” Terry said.

Cochran-Navarra said her prayer is to be reunited with Smith after she hopefully makes a full recovery.

“I hope I can just, just tell her how incredibly happy I am that she’s alive and I’ll tell her I’m very grateful that I was able to help her,” Cochran-Navarra said through tears.