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Three medical helicopter crew members were killed after their aircraft crashed in Oklahoma, according to a statement relased by the Air Evac Lifeteam. As per their statement, the helicopter crashed on Saturday, January 20, 2024, at 11:23 pm.
As per CBS, the Air Evac Lifeteam crew was returning to Weatherford, which is 70 miles west of Oklahoma metropolis, after delivering a patient to the capitol. The crew consisted of three people.
An official statement revealed that the Air Evac Lifeteam's operations control center lost contact with the helicopter just before the event occurred. It was a Bell 206L-3 with the call sign N295AE, according to the social media post of the company.
The Oklahoman stated that the chopper crashed near Hydro. Nearby Air Evac crews reportedly supported the law enforcement in their search for the crew members.
Names of the victims in the Oklahoma helicopter crash have not been released yet
According to the Air Evac Lifeteam's website, the organization operates over 150 helicopter air ambulances in 18 states. As per the same website, crews are on duty every day to respond to medical emergencies and transport patients between medical facilities.
An official statement on Facebook by the Air Evac Lifeteam confirmed the crash happened near Hydro, which is just outside Weatherford and about 63 miles west of Oklahoma City. The post on the social media platform read:
"Our primary focus is on supporting the families and our team members… (Critical Incident Stress Management) teams have been sent to assist our team members during this time.”
It further added:
“At this time we are not sharing the names of the crew members aboard the flight. AEL has turned over the scene and investigation to the NTSB.”
The victims' names were omitted out of respect for their families' privacy, the statement also added.
According to the Air Evac Lifestream's website, crews include a pilot, a flight nurse, and a flight paramedic, and approximately 90% of the Air Evac Lifeteam's patient transports come from rural areas.
Helicopter crashes have increased in frequency of late
This is not the first instance of a helicopter crash in recent times. On December 27, 2023, a helicopter carrying two people crashed in Miami, Florida. The Hughes 369 helicopter, flying from Fort Myers, fell into a canal about three miles west of Miami Executive Airport.
This is as per Federal Aviation Administration, who issued an official statement to The Associated Press regarding the same.
Out of the two passengers, the male passenger died in the incident, while the female passenger got stuck in the canal. WSVN-TV reported that the two were rescued from the wreckage Wednesday afternoon after many 911 calls.
On the other hand, on December 19, a Philadelphia news helicopter crashed in New Jersey's Pine Barrens. It crashed into the dense woods "at very high speed," before breaking apart and catching fire. The incident killed a photojournalist and the pilot, according to a federal crash investigator.
