The helicopter experienced an ‘in-air emergency’ before crashing onto a busy highway – leaving three people critically injured, including a woman who was left trapped under the wreckage
A busy highway[1] was brought to a standstill last night after an air ambulance flipped upside down and crashed[2] – sparking chaos and leaving three people seriously injured. Emergency crews raced to free a woman trapped beneath the wreckage.
The helicopter[3] was making a return trip from a hospital[4] after dropping off a patient when it experienced an ‘in-air emergency’ shortly after 7pm on Monday. Captain Justin Sylvia, a spokesperson for the Sacramento Fire Department, said a pilot, nurse and paramedic rushed to hospital in critical condition. He added that no one else on the busy eastbound Highway 50[5] was injured – which was “mind blowing” considering the aircraft crash-landed in the middle of the road. “People reported that they basically saw the helicopter kind of going down quickly. So all the traffic slowed down,” Sylvia said.
A woman among those injured was left trapped underneath the destroyed helicopter as rescue crews from the fire department and others on the highway managed to push the aircraft off her. “It took every ounce of all approximately 15 people to move that aircraft up just enough to get her out,” Sylvia said.
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References
- ^ highway (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ flipped upside down and crashed (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ helicopter (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ hospital (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ Highway 50 (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ Google News (news.google.com)
- ^ Flipboard (flipboard.com)
- ^ Apple News (apple.news)
- ^ Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ Facebook (facebook.com)
- ^ The Mirror (www.mirror.co.uk)