Four people are alive after a medical transport helicopter on its way to an Erlanger Health System location crashed on a road in North Carolina on March 9.
The Chattanooga, Tenn.-based system confirmed the crash to Becker’s and said everyone on board — one patient and three crew members — is alive. The system did not comment on injury status, but ABC affiliate WLOS reported three people were transported to Mission Hospital in Asheville, N.C., with minor to moderate injuries and one person was sent to Angel Medical Center in Franklin, N.C., for evaluation.
The aircraft crashed around 7 p.m. Eastern time March 9 and sustained severe damage, according to WLOS. The crew members on board of Erlanger’s Life Force helicopters include a pilot, a flight nurse and a flight paramedic. The crashed helicopter was a Eurocopter EC135, which carries “enhanced ground proximity warning systems, an Air Traffic advisory system, two Garmin Aviation GPS navigation systems, weather radar, real time XM Satellite weather and a three axis auto-pilot,” according to the system.
Life Force Air Medical, which Erlanger created in 1988, confirmed the crash on Facebook.
This is the first crash in the 34-year history of Life Force, according to WLOS.
Becker’s will update this story if more information becomes available.
