An air ambulance crashed onto a busy highway on Monday night, sparking chaos and leaving at least three people seriously injured – including one woman who was trapped under the wreckage of the aircraft.
The helicopter had taken a patient to a hospital and was on the way back to the place it had been dispatched from when it experienced an “in-air emergency” just after 7 p.m., said Captain Justin Sylvia, a spokesperson for the Sacramento Fire Department.
A pilot, nurse and paramedic were taken to hospitals and were in critical condition, he said. No one on the highway was injured, he said, calling that “mind blowing” given that the helicopter crashed in the center of the highway.
“People reported that they basically saw the helicopter kind of going down quickly. So all the traffic slowed down,” Sylvia said.
One of the people injured was trapped underneath the helicopter and a small crew from the fire department was able to work with people on the highway to push the aircraft off the woman to get her out and into an ambulance.
“It took every ounce of all approximately 15 people to move that aircraft up just enough to get her out,” he said.
The crash closed the eastbound lanes of Highway 50, according to officer Mike Carrillo, a spokesperson for the Valley Division of California Highway Patrol.
The aircraft was a REACH Air Medical helicopter, according to the company, which said in a statement that they “are keeping all those impacted in our thoughts and prayers.”
“We are in the process of determining the details of this situation, as well as the condition of the REACH crew involved, who were all taken to area hospitals,” the company’s statement said.
In images posted online, a long line of cars on Highway 50 could be seen backed up just behind a crashed helicopter.
“The cause of the crash is still under investigation,” Carrillo said, adding that emergency crews and CHP were on the scene.
Sacramento City Councilwoman Lisa Kaplan said she was on a ride along with law enforcement responding to the crash and said there were plumes of white smoke coming out of the crashed helicopter.
“It’s really sombering and sobering. I am up flying with sheriff pilots that do this day in and day out. And it really makes you grateful for every day and grateful for our officers and our medical pilots,” she said.