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The original death toll from the collision in Arizona was 7. It was brought down to 6 Sunday evening. Two paramedic suffered burns to their hands when an explosion occurred after the crash.
Another medical chopper crash injured three on Friday near Prescott, AZ.
Here is the latest from KPNX-TV and the Arizona Republic:
Six people were killed and one critically injured Sunday when two helicopters heading toward a Flagstaff hospital collided and set off an explosion that blasted emergency responders off their feet, federal and local authorities said.
No names have been released. Officials say they’re still trying to reach the victims’ families.
A Coconino County Sheriff’s spokesman, Gerry Blair, called the collision “unprecedented,” and said he believes it’s the biggest mass-casualty event in Flagstaff’s history.
Local police and fire officials were called to the crash scene near Flagstaff Medical Center at 3:48 p.m. The collision had sent the helicopters flying out of control.
Fire officials said one craft landed on McMillan Mesa – it’s also known as Switzer Mesa – and exploded soon after they arrived. The other landed downhill in a mess of debris.
Three of the fatalities were aboard a Bell 407 operated by a company called Air Methods. At least one of those killed was a patient, according to Ian Gregor, a spokesman with the Federal Aviation Administration.
The other four people were aboard a Bell 407 operated by a company called Classic Helicopter Service of Utah. Three were killed and one was critically injured, Gregor said.
Capt. Mark Johnson, a Flagstaff Fire Department spokesman, said one of his co-workers, Capt. Ray Gonzalez, was headed up the hill toward one of the downed helicopters near Turquoise and Forest roads when he was struck by a blast.
“He said it felt like someone had pulled his feet out from under him,” Johnson said.
John Kincade, of Flagstaff was spending the afternoon with his family at a nearby park when he saw the helicopters hit and fall. A woman who appeared to have been a patient was ejected in the fall.
Kincade said he ran to help, but found she had no pulse. Seconds later, the explosion hit and threw a firefighter 15 or 20 feet in the air.
“Even if I had all the training in the world, there was nothing I could have done,” Kincade said.
The helicopter downhill from the mesa was so badly wrecked by the impact that firefighters spent 20 minutes trying to extricate the victims.
Two people managed to escape but were hurt by the nearby explosion. They’re expected to survive and are likely in good condition, said Blair, of the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office.
Gregor said the FAA and National Transportation and Safety Administration authorities have been called to the scene to determine what happened.
The devastating collision has stunned law enforcement and fire officials who said they cannot imagine what led to the crash.
“It was calm. It was clear. There was no wind,” Johnson said.
The collision is a reminder of a similar collision that occurred last year in Phoenix between two news helicopters on July 27. The crash killed all four people. They were covering a car chase.
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