5 Killed in Crash of Ambulance Plane Near San Diego

Five crew members were killed early Sunday when a medical air ambulance crashed near the Mexican border shortly after taking off from San Diego, officials said.

The Learjet was returning to a company base in Albuquerque after delivering a patient from Mexico to San Diego when it crashed shortly after its 12:30 a.m. takeoff, said Larry Levin, chief executive of Med Flight Air Ambulance. National Transportation Safety Board officials are investigating the cause of the crash, which took place about seven miles east of Brown Field, an airfield used by private, military and law enforcement aircraft.

Killed were pilot Karl A. Kolb, 56; copilot K. John Lamphere, 30; nurse Laura A. Womble, 47; and her husband, Donald, 45, a paramedic. All four were from Albuquerque. Paramedic Marco E. Villalobos, 33, of El Paso also was killed.

“The pilots were top-notch,” Levin said. “I’d let them fly my family and friends. I have nothing but the highest regard for their capabilities. It’s a very difficult time.”

This is the first crash for the Med Flight Air Ambulance, which started in 1979.

Levin suspended flights indefinitely, halting work for about 100 employees in the company’s three locations: Albuquerque, El Paso and Las Vegas.

Levin said the jet was in “great condition” and had received regularly scheduled maintenance a few months ago.

*

Associated Press contributed to this report.