Medical Helicopter Crashes After Delivering Patient; Crew of 3 Killed
A medical helicopter returning to base after ferrying a patient to a hospital crashed in snowy weather, killing all three people aboard, authorities said Sunday.
The Euro BO-105 was returning to its base in Pahrump when it was reported down about 12:10 a.m., said Jerry Acosta, a duty officer with the Federal Aviation Administration in Los Angeles.
The helicopter had dropped off a patient at Valley Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas and was returning to base when the crew failed to make a routine 15-minute check-in about 11:30 p.m. Saturday, hospital spokeswoman Rebecca Blair said.
After repeated attempts to contact the crew failed, search and rescue authorities were called. The crash site is about 35 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
The cause of the crash was under investigation by officials from the National Transportation Safety Board. Officials said it was cold and snowing at the time.
The crash killed pilot James Bond Jr., and flight nurses Kathy Batterman and Leroy Shelton, said Blair, whose hospital operates the Flight for Life air ambulance program.
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