Medical Helicopter Crashes in Indiana
A helicopter on a medical evacuation crashed in southwest Indiana early Wednesday, killing the heart patient on board and injuring the three crew members, officials said.
LYNNVILLE, Ind. (AP) -- A helicopter on a medical evacuation crashed in southwest Indiana early Wednesday, killing the heart patient on board and injuring the three crew members, officials said.
Jerry Leonard, 63, died from suffocation because the impact caused his stretcher's chest strap to become positioned around his neck, said deputy coroner Darrel Healy.
Leonard was being flown from Huntingburg to an Evansville hospital Tuesday night when the helicopter crashed about 20 miles outside Evansville, state police Sgt. Todd Ringle said.
Ringle said the pilot of the Bell Jet Ranger helicopter ``started to make a turn, and as he was doing so, he started to tumble.'' The cause of the crash was being investigated, he said.
Paramedic Robert Williams, 29, used a cell phone to call dispatchers, said Toni Chritton, a spokeswoman for Air Evac Lifeteam, which operates medical helicopters in 10 states.
The helicopter was 13 years old and had been refurbished, Chritton said. The company had started flying the aircraft a month ago.
It took more than an hour for rescuers in four helicopters to find the downed aircraft in the hilly, remote area, amid darkness. Williams, who had a broken arm, waved a flashlight to signal their location.
Williams and a nurse, Steve Ritchey, 30, underwent surgery at a hospital in Evansville and were in stable condition, Chritton said. The pilot, Richard Larock, was listed in stable condition at a hospital in Louisville, Ky.
