Medical helicopter crash kills four in Texas: report
WASHINGTON (AFP) — A medical helicopter rushing a patient to hospital crashed Sunday in Texas, killing all four people on board, US media reported.
The patient was being transported in predawn hours from Huntsville to Houston, Texas, a distance of about 70 miles (112 kilometers), but ground control lost contact with the pilot minutes after takeoff, CNN television said.
Around 8:30 am local time, Texas authorities spotted the wreckage of the Bell 407 helicopter in a densely wooded area of Sam Houston National Forest, just southwest of Huntsville, the reports said.
"The helicopter was totally disintegrated upon impact," Department of Public Safety Trooper John Sampa told The Houston Chronicle. "It took down a couple of pine trees."
The dead included the patient, the pilot, a nurse and a paramedic. The nature of the medical emergency was not disclosed.
Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were on the scene trying to determine the cause of the crash, which occurred in fair weather and without any apparent distress call, reports said.
