SCOTLAND, Ark. — A medical helicopter crashed Tuesday amid the hills of central Arkansas, killing three crew members who were trying to reach a person injured in a traffic accident and scattering debris across an area about a quarter-mile wide.
The Air Evac Lifeteam helicopter, a Bell 206 built in 1978, went down near the Scotland community in Van Buren County at about 4 a.m., according to the company and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Pilot Kenneth Robertson, flight nurse Kenneth Meyer, Jr., and flight paramedic Gayla Gregory all were killed, Air Evac spokeswoman Julie Heavrin said. There was no patient aboard the aircraft, Heavrin said.
Van Buren County Coroner Dorothy Branscum said the victims were killed on impact.
“I would say they might’ve seen it coming, but that was it. The helicopter was just melted and it was just in pieces,” Branscum said.
Read more from By CHUCK BARTELS (AP)
