Medical Helicopter Crashes - Killing Pilot, Flight Paramedic, & Flight Nurse (52) 

I'm so sorry for your loss. This is heartbreaking. I was a flight paramedic in NY and PA in the early and mid nineties. I have experience in the Bell 407 and the EC 130 aircrafts. I absolutely loved flight medicine and the pilots and nurses I worked with were top notch. My prayers are with you and those involved.

As a helo pilot myself, flying at night ANYWHERE is extremely dangerous! I had a severe bird strike, im lucky to be alive along with my crew! Birds flying at night, weather, so much stacked against us. God Bless these crew members and familys. Most flights are unnecessary , and nobody cares until its to late.

I've been evacuated by a team like this and am grateful for their dedication and professionalism, adding them to my Rosary RIP.

I will first state that I am very sad for the loss of the crew. Rest in Peace. That said, I was paramedic for 18 years and flew on a number of helicopters when requested. It is my firm opinion that a minimum of 80% of air-ambulance flights are medically unnecessary. Safer ground transport, although time-delayed, would result in the same outcome. The hospital-based ambulances that I worked for often called the med-flights, "dash-for-cash." It has become a status symbol to have helicopter EMS, but at what cost to the crews and, sometimes, the patients. I don't expect those in the business to listen to a word I say, but I hope that someday there will be a reckoning. "Life flights" can certainly be life savers, but it's time to reevaluate the criteria for these high-risk medical flights. I bless them all. Wayne out West

Sorry to hear. Rip. Brothers👨🏻‍🚒 some of the best paramedic care you’ll get b4 a trauma center ! Have a few friends who fly here in Worcester /Boston 🇺🇸🙏🏼

Adam was a good buddy of mine. He started back at the end of May last year. He was a good dude. My heart goes out to all of those on board that night.. it’s so terribly sad.

First, my heart hurts for the loss of the crew and their families. No matter who you fly for, it hurts. Second: I flew at AEL for seven years and loved every minute. I’m forever grateful for AEL and those who take the risk to care for others. May God be with those who grieve and I pray and extra measure of calm and peace.

Absolutely heartbreaking! No words can comfort after such a loss! God Speed to the crew, and our eternal gratitude for your service.

Sorry Justin. I used to fly for AEL in the 206 and 407 and they were a great company to work for. I was there 2013-2018 and got to see the fleet upgrade to the L4 standard and Garmin 500/650 and Helisas autopilot for every airframe. I had great respect for AEL to spend the money on upgrading every airframe and make it standard across the fleet. Bird strikes are a huge threat this time if year and the paper thin windshield is worthess in protecting occupants from strikes. I now work for AMC (now technically AMLLC) and they are slowly adding bird resistant windshields to the 407 fleet in high risk areas because of their Pine Bluff, AR base crash. Maybe I'll see you in a couple of weeks in OKC since I'll be flying an EC145 into some of your local hospitals.

I lost two friends in a rotary wing ambulance crash 23 years ago. These incidents keep occurring while this method of transport becomes more and more routine. Saddening. My sympathies to the bereaved.

Im so sorry for your loss! I respect ur work and what u put into ur channel. Man just so sorry

Firstly, thank you for paying respect to the crew in this accident, it truly is a tragic scenario. All of your accident videos have been well done from an aircraft accident investigation perspective. Without going into much detail, I was working OCC when this happened and unfortunately you know about as much as we do in regards to what happened. I trust the NTSB will find an answer and I just hope it was nothing that could've been prevented.

This is so tragic. I flew HEMS for 15 years and it tears away a piece of us every time we lose one. That last one AirEvac lost was due to main rotor separation. The fact that the main rotor blades were so far from the crash brings back terrible memories.

Tragic AF. Losing good people is bad enough. Losing professionals and Angels (nurses, medics and docs) who save lives every day is just. Heartbreaking. Thanks for the report. This one was very close to home. I respect you sharing the info despite the closeness. Than you.

I live in small town and this town is so thankful for our airevac people,sorry for the loss

Prayers for all lost.🙏. Thank you for your channel!🇺🇸

As a licensed Longranger and 407 engineer, I agree, I think the L3 makes a excellent and safe air ambulance. yes rear loading ECs are much better but as an engineer the L3 is more economical and safe if maintained and operated properly. Condolences to the crew and their family.

I'm so sorry My friend 😢 I could see you trying to keep it together and I'm so sorry for the loss of your friend and the other two on board! I'm a retired police officer from LAPD Los Angeles Police Department and I spent many hours riding along with Air Support over the Los Angeles area and I know it's a dangerous but much needed service especially EMS helicopter services! My heart goes out to you and to all the family and friends of the crew that was tragically lost last night! Let's hope and pray we get to the bottom of what happened so we can learn and make any necessary improvements? God speed to the 3! Stay safe Stay strong my friend ❤️

Man Justin, I’m so sorry. Sending love from Toledo. ❤

Lost a great crew last night. Will have my friend in mind every time I zip up my flight suit for a long time. A post I saw on FB said that geese were involved…it is that time of year…everyone hug your loved ones a little tighter tonight.

So sorry for your loss Justin.

Really sad. My condolences to the families and co-workers of this crew.

I have been so busy that I hadn’t even heard this crash happened, and I’ve been flying pipeline patrol in Oklahoma quite a bit. In fact I just flew in to Wiley Post yesterday. This crash is bizarre to say the least, and absolutely awful that we lost everyone. The only positive outcome is that the patient was not on board. I’ll bet the patient will feel guilt with this incident unfortunately.

So sorry to hear this. Such a waste of true heros.

This is so awful. It seems to happen more frequently now. Praying for families that lost their loved ones 😢

So sorry Justin, I am a retired medic, this hurts. I also used to dispatch EMS helicopters for another company, and quit often worked with AEL crews as well in dispatching and flight following. This is never a good day when this happens. A nurse friend of mine who still works for them posted she may have known the crew as she was in MO when several of this crew were doing orientation with AEL. She is with AEL 121. This is a terrible situation, and my heart goes out to the AEL Co as they work through this tragedy. I know several AEL members as I worked closely with 3 bases in my immediate area, along with others in the state. It's never easy when this happens. Condolences to you and prayers for the families involved in this.

X-Military Helo pilot here. Flew 206 (OH58). This looks like main rotar separation. Too sudden for engine failure. That or pilot incapacitated. Hard way to go. So sorry.

The Allison 250 C30 typically installed in this aircraft would have an N1 Fuel Control Heater that would need to be manually turned on prior to takeoff. I cannot remember what the temperature range was for its usage, but I believe it would have been required this night. Prayers for the family’s and personnel involved. I flew 206s for 14 years. They are a fine aircraft. Heart breaking.

Prayers for you and the families brother!

Absolutely tragic. My prayers are with the families, the friends, and the entire HAA community. I have thousands of hours in various models of the 206, including the -L3 in an HEMS role. It is a safe aircraft overall, but, like most helicopters, it demands that you respect its capabilities and limitations. As you noted, the debris field is very tightly contained. That, and the separation of the rotor head, suggest a catastrophic drive-train failure that resulted in a steep plummet. I will be eagerly waiting for the NTSB to sort this out.

My heart goes out to you brother. Thoughts and prayers to you and the families.

I fly for AE and this has completely affected all of us

Prayers lifted. 🙏🏾❤️

Solid work Justin. My deepest condolences brother 🥲

I'm terribly sorry for the loss of a friend and for the loss of some great people who were serving their community. I look forward to hearing how and why this happened.

since the "the airplane was fine, the weather was good" statement kind of implicates the Pilot (which is not something any of us mean to do at this stage), I want to balance that by pointing out that batteries work exponentially worse in extreme cold, and if they were not getting enough amp/voltage for whatever reason (do those aircraft use an alternator?), it is well possible the system was slowly but steadily running out of electric power.

Praying for them all and their families.🙏🙏

Looks to me like one blade came off which caused the rest of the main mast to eject itself from the craft and the craft (minus the blades) simply dropped out of the sky. This could be why there are no "skid" marks, and the main blades are not with the crash site. I used to balance UH-1 and OH-6 main and tail rotor blades in the Army. I can't imagine one blade suddenly flying off, but thats what it looks like to me. Plus the massive shaking for the few seconds one main blade was missing would have likely been more than enough to cause sudden damage to the radio and other instruments. BUT, this is my own speculation from the photos shown.

Justin I am so truly sorry for your loss of your friends. This is absolutely heartbreaking to lose three amazing people doing what they loved what absolute true heroes without a second thought rushing to help people in their hour of need Thank you from bottom of my heart for what you did.May you all please RIP may the Angels be with their poor families in this very difficult and awful time. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all their friends and families.

I flew in that area as a Strike Team Pilot for AE and certainly knew the crew. It is a dangerous yet very important job/mission. Prayers to the families. I would hate to speculate but the rotor being so far away from crash makes me think "mast bumping." I'm thinking Mercy Hospital as the other (if memory serves) the other one has it's own roof top pad. Wind there is always pretty high. Can't remember the one next to the interstate with 3 pads but that was challenging.

Prayers for the family especially their children, tragic. Hardest thing to hear is that your mom or dad will never come home.

Sorry for your loss, terrible tragedy.

It was a hard day when we received the email from the CEO Monday morning. I pray for the family and friends ❤

METAR for those wondering about weather conditions: KOJA 210535Z AUTO 16007KT 10SM CLR M07/M14 A3039 RMK AO2 T10701136 KOJA 210515Z AUTO 17006KT 10SM CLR M06/M14 A3040 RMK AO2 T10611137 It doesn’t look like weather would have been a factor. They were 175 ft AGL which is dangerously close to the ground. Doesn’t look like there are any obstructions near the vicinity of last ADS-B point.

So very sorry.

Love your channel. Keep it up

I would first offer my condolences to the family and co-workers. I just retired from 25+ years as a flight medic with Life Flight -Louisville and LifeLine- Indy. Those of us who work in aircraft are totally aware at any given moment things can go bad in an instant. I salute these hero’s for risking their lives to save others…and know they were doing the right thing… to help others…. People they had never met. My prayer is that all of us either on-duty, retired or soon to join this field will be held in the Lord’s and kept safe during their missions🙏🏼🙏🏼

My dad knew the pilot very well he is on the strike team for air evac. They think it was a flock of Canadian geese that caused this particular tragedy.

Very informative , we have subscribed

Dammit I had hoped you’d run out of material tbh. As much as love this channel I was happy that you had no crashes to report on 😢😢 Your personal feelings on this given your connection to them was evident here.

The 206 is underpowered and is unsuitable for air ambulance work. I flew the Army's version for several years... Did about 1600 hours in various models in the Gulf of Mexico and 2 years in my first air ambulance job.. Air Evac got started buying old 20K hour 206's rebuilt by PHI.. They were dogs.. Our 206's were dogs. .After 2 years, we upgraded to BK-117's.. Those were fine helicopters for EMS work.. After many years, we traded them in for EC-145's, the finest helicopter I ever flew. We added some EC-135's.. They're Ok but you have to keep a close eye on fuel load and weight and balance.

I'm so, so sorry for your loss.

As a HEMS pilot, please stop speculating. Let the experts {NTSB} do their job and provide a qualified analysis and cause to be investigated and reported. Weather, fuel, CTIF or whatever, they will all get you. Just keep doing what is right. Make good decisions and if you are concerned, say something. Express those concerns to your pilots, they are not infallible. And for my fellow pilots; look for anything that suggests a turndown. You can't accept every flight request. It's okay to choose to say "declined" and risk one life instead of four.

I have been a member of one of these companies for several years now ! In California. It is a sad day.

As a former flight paramedic in Oklahoma, two engines are better than one. Why? We experienced one engine failure and thank goodness the second engine carried us back to earth. My two cents and professional experience. Unfortunate any crew member lost their lives due to accident. My heart goes out to the families and other flight crew members. Normal people having a normal response to abnormal situations or events.

Solid reporting for a tragic story. So sorry to hear this.

The elevation at Hydro, the site of the crash is 1,526'. The aircraft, per ADS-B was at 1,700' throughout the flight. They may have had sufficient terrain clearance upon leaving OKC, but the elevation rose going westbound. 175' AGL was all they had if the numbers are correct.

God bless those poor people. May they find rest and peace...

I didn’t know you were an okie! What a sad deal, I flew out of Weatherford the day before.

My condolences. Unfortunately it wasn’t the first & won’t be the last. Remember Mercy Air 2 in Cajon Pass years ago, sad.

Maybe the aircraft started to experience extreme vibrations then mast failure? Extreme vibrations could have caused the transponder to work intermittently. Vibrations can cause Power or Radio signal issues. The wreckage is showing that they had little forward airspeed so it seems to me that they basically fell out to the sky. On top of that the rotor head seems to me a bit far away from the wreckage. A lot of questions here. I had an opportunity to work for Airevac a while ago. I've only met the finest people that worked for them. My thoughts are with them and their family.

Dash-for-Cash medical evacuation is the real problem. It has been stated that 80% of all USA medi vac assignments are not absolutely necessary. But the hundreds of thousands of dollars made from each of these unnecessary flights paid by insurance companies make the industry respond way too often. Reduce the number of flights and these horrible events will also be reduced. We as a nation have gone way over board in first responder medi vac missions. Similar to a fire truck and crew mandatory must go with every ambulance call. These expenses are out of control and the industry is over funded, over pensioned and out of financial control.

Bell 206L-3 LongRanger III Owner/operator: Air Evac EMS Inc, opa. Air Evac Lifeteam Registration: _N295AE_ Year of manufacture: *1991*

I flew for AEL, LOVED the B206L, but didn't care much for the company. My heart breaks. Doesn't matter what EMS company we work for we are all one...

😢PRAYERS for everyone affected by this 🙏

Years ago a Mercy Flight dropped off a patient then headed back to the hospital. On the way back they decided to take a tiny detour & check out some mountain goats. The helicopter crashed shortly after & all onboard died.

Sorry for the loss. Seems like the usual controled flight into terrain. However, no trail into crash sight is unusual.

it would appear that there was a mechanical issue and they weren't able to auto rotate down... the skids are on their side like they spun in and rolled over

I spent 9 years as a Flight Nurse. I flew in the MB105, Bell 206, UH 205?,407,EC135,EC145. In my opinion, the 206 was terrible. I didn't say unreliable, but just not my favorite for providing critical care. I have more I could say but I will leave it at that.

Did I read correctly that the transponder has them at 1700 feet until the signal disappeared? When i look at the topo maps of the area, there is terrain at 1550. Is it customary to not have 500 feet AGL in cruise on a non-emergency flight, until they began their approach?

Sorry for your loss. Fixed wing pilot here, I'd never go on a helicopter, they can't glide and autorotation is a risky thing!

So sorry to hear this. I wonder by the pictures did they have a midair rotor strike...or boom strike? My heart just sank. I retired from AE in 05 from West Plains MO. as a certified Bell 206L A&P and the first Field Maintenance Supvr. We were a family...and got closer as we grew. The 206 is a tough work horse..and has the safest track record for a two blade rotor system period. The autorotation rate is still one of the best in the world. Have to go out of your way to break her. I've missed the company since I left but knowing how the pilots are trained and the way we mechs took care of the fleet...they earned the great reputation they have. I hope you will let us know the full skinny when you can. Thank you for the video. We pray for the family's peace and closure. In the Name of Jesus.

Just wanted to update if you hadn't heart - they found a dead goose in the cabin. Speculation is that a bird strike mightve caused the crash

Was ice a factor? I have friends that live in Moore and they say the weather has been terrible

Looks like possible a main rotor blade failure. Cause of the sudden fall and lack of debris field. And a main rotor blade not near the crash site. Half to wait for the NTSB to get the full picture cause no accident is just one cause.

One or 2 things to add, possible loss of power or tail rotor, other, southern or unexplained down drafts. Prayers my friends

We had freezing drizzle last night here in Oklahoma. They could have built up ice on the fuselage

As an A/P helicopter mechanic, I started with AE when we only had 6 birds. After having helped investigate several crashes, I am concerned about the " Missing Blade" that appears in the aerial pictures. The aircraft obviously came STRAIGHT down. The tail was chopped where the blade struck. But my concern is the "Head". These are Van Horn blades, and I don't like their history!

Large dead geese were found in close proximity to the impact site. So I’m going say they probably hit a flock of them. Super sad.

They built a landing pad right behind my house and it's quite a spectacle when they land and take off. They could have used they airport down the road but as they say Big Money Got No Soul! I wonder who handles the lawsuits in these situations? God bless those who went down.

Terribly sad. My Son in law works for Air Evac in Texas.

🙏💔 so tragic

Take care of yourself! 😢

Where would that machine put on fuel? Do these aircraft have jetA at hospitals in the USA?

Truly sorry to you and the family’s of those lost. Breaks my heart with every loss from the medical community. Everyone of them is 😊a Hero!! 🩷🙏🏽🩷

We have identical Air Evac 206 base in my town... They fly pattern rt over my house...

I just got my FP-C and honestly I'm a little concerned of the sheer amount of medevac crashes in the last few years. It seems there's one every two months or so.

I live in Oklahoma I could not believe it :/

In flight rotor head separation maybe? So sad…

was icing conditions happening

Hello every one prayers for all involved 2016 the state of MD stop using them they switched storsky Air Craft Our Algo was the first started in 1970

What are you if not a piolet

not much fire. It almost looks like they ran out of fuel. Bad deal

Was there any Rime ice?

Ice and or fog...

So sad

CFIT maybe?

Your credibility was greatly reduced with the comment that AEL is one of the safest air medical transporters in the country. First, AEL operates under-powered, single engine, VFR-only helicopters because they are CHEAP. They have had scores of fatal accidents in their sorry history. I flew USCG helicopters for 20 years & followed that up with 22 years at a hospital-owned Part 135 Air Medical Service. We operated medium twin engine fully IFR helicopters with a network of Rotary Wing instrument approaches to our customer hospitals. We also responded to scene calls. To date, that setup has operated accident & incident-free for 40+ years. You cannot beat a zero accident-rate. All air EMS should be MANDATED twin-engine IFR capable & PROFICIENT…NOT FAA MINIMUM “PROFICIENT”. That would put the likes of AEL out-of-business as they should be.

ael has a history with blades separating in flight with the 206. Was nobody’s fault. That being said there should never be a single engine vfr only non cat a helicopter doing EMS ops. cat A 135 or better.

They are now flying with the Angels, GOD Bless all those affected by this