Three people killed in medical helicopter crash in Mississippi

All three people working aboard a medical helicopter were killed when it crashed into a densely wooded area outside Jackson, Mississippis, on Monday while returning from transporting a patient, hospital officials said.

Two of the people were crew members who worked for the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the other was a pilot, Dr. LouAnn Woodward, the medical center’s top administrator, said during a news conference. The helicopter was not carrying any patients at the time of the accident, she added.

It was not clear what caused the aircraft, which the Federal Aviation Administration identified as a Eurocopter EC-135, to lose control. The FAA said that it and the National Transportation Safety Board would investigate the crash, which occurred around 1:15 pm.

Officials did not release the names of the three people who died. They were based out of Columbus, Mississippi, and were part of AirCare 3, one of four medical helicopter units operated by the medical center.

“The entire medical center family is heartbroken over this,” Woodward said. “This is the crew that responds to emergencies all across the state, and to see them today to respond to one of their own was just something that you can’t put into words.”

Woodward said that the AirCare helicopters and their crews played an integral role in providing critical care services across Mississippi, and that they had a spotless safety record until the crash Monday.

The crews frequently include nurses and paramedics, according to an information page on the medical center’s website. They are equipped with oxygen, ventilators and other critical care equipment.

Woodward said that the pilot who died worked for Med-Trans, the company that leases the AirCare helicopters to the medical center.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

The crash happened a little more than five weeks after a medical jet crashed in Philadelphia, killing six people aboard the plane and one person on the ground. And it added to a spate of recent aviation accidents. On Jan. 29, an American Airlines regional jet and an Army helicopter collided over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., leaving no survivors. On Feb. 17, a Delta Air Lines flight trying to land at Toronto Pearson International Airport amid strong winds and drifting snow crashed and flipped over on the tarmac; all 80 people who were aboard that plane survived.