SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Just minutes after a medical helicopter crashed onto a California highway, Sacramento Fire Capt. Peter Vandersluis found himself directing an impromptu response team of about 15 drivers to lift the wreckage off a paramedic trapped underneath.
When Vandersluis shouted “lift,” they raised the aircraft. When he ordered “hold,” they kept it elevated.
“Just out of instinct – the people were there willing to help, and they didn’t hesitate and followed my exact commands,” Vandersluis told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “And we were able to lift it up with ease.”
The paramedic, as well as a nurse and pilot on board, were taken to hospitals in critical condition after Monday evening’s crash on State Route 50 east of downtown Sacramento. The aircraft had departed a hospital after dropping off a patient when it experienced an “in-air emergency” and went down just after 7 p.m. The conditions of the three weren’t immediately known Tuesday.
Vandersluis was supervising the first fire engine crew to reach the crash, and he knew it would take too long for additional rescue teams to arrive.
“Once I heard the woman groan, I made the decision to essentially yell out and get the bystanders to help lift the helicopter off of her,” Vandersluis said.
A firefighter tried to pull the paramedic out only to find she was trapped by her seat belt. The firefighter scooted underneath, cut the seat belt and rescued her. The ad hoc team raised the aircraft in about 30 seconds. By the time the firefighter extracted the paramedic, less than a minute had passed.
The group gently lowered the aircraft to the ground after the paramedic was safely removed.
Valdersluis said he has never led a group of civilians in an emergency response situation before. But he noted his job is to lead the men and women he works with on a daily basis. His training and nearly 20 years of experience as a firefighter told him what to do.
His engine had been responding to a motorcycle accident just nearby in the westbound lanes of the same highway when the helicopter crashed. The engine drove against traffic to the scene and got there in minutes.
Some drivers were already out of their cars trying to assist when the firefighters arrived.
Aimee Braddock was among those who helped. She told KCRA-TV that she rushed to the crash site after seeing the helicopter plummet to the pavement.
“As soon as I saw that everybody was moving to try to push the helicopter out to help the first responders get to the passenger, I just ran over and got in the line of people and was just pushing it as much as I could,” Braddock recounted. “Then we held it for several minutes, so the first responder could get the person out.”
Firefighters said they didn’t confirm the helicopter caught fire. White smoke billowed out of the aircraft when it crashed, but Vandersluis said it was released by an onboard fire extinguisher system.
No one on the highway was injured, something Capt. Justin Sylvia with the Sacramento Fire Department called “mind blowing” given that the helicopter crashed in the center of the highway.
“People reported that they basically saw the helicopter kind of going down quickly. So all the traffic slowed down,” Sylvia said.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration said they were investigating the crash of the Airbus EC-130 T2.
The aircraft was a REACH Air Medical helicopter, according to the company, which said in a statement that they “are keeping all those impacted in our thoughts and prayers.”
“We are in the process of determining the details of this situation, as well as the condition of the REACH crew involved, who were all taken to area hospitals,” the company’s statement said.
Sacramento City Councilwoman Lisa Kaplan was on a ride-along with law enforcement responding to the crash and said there were plumes of white smoke coming out of the downed helicopter.
“It’s really sombering and sobering. I am up flying with sheriff pilots that do this day in and day out. And it really makes you grateful for every day and grateful for our officers and our medical pilots,” she said.
New cellphone video is shedding light on the moment a medical helicopter crashed on Highway 50 in Sacramento on Monday night. Three people were hurt.
Witnesses say it’s a miracle no one was killed and that more people were not hurt. And authorities say it’s truly fortunate that the helicopter did not catch fire.
Cellphone video captured the dramatic scene just after 7 p.m.
A chopper fell from the sky, helicopter blades slammed into the road, and then there were plumes of white smoke and a lot of screeching according to witnesses.
“It’s surreal. It’s still surreal. I could see it falling. That’s the crazy part of it,” said Chris Lozano of Sacramento.
“It had nosedived and when it nosedived, we were shocked and we all ran out of our cars and said get them out, get the people out… because we didn’t know what was going to happen if the plane was going to go kaboosh,” said Isabella Lozano.
Authorities say it was just minutes after the helicopter took off from UC Davis Medical Center. It was returning to Redding when it crashed upside down – scattering debris over an extensive area. One person was pinned underneath the helicopter. She was rescued with the help of motorists who lifted part of the aircraft, according to officials.
Sacramento Fire Department said three people onboard – the pilot, a nurse and paramedic – were critically hurt.
The helicopter just dropped off a patient at UC Davis Medical Center.
ABC7 News in San Francisco talked to Marsha McHugh of Sacramento by phone. She heard the crash but didn’t know what it was.
“It was a really loud boom with a lot of screeching,” said McHugh.
McHugh lives right beside Highway 50 several hundred feet from where the plane went down.
“I got a phone call from a neighbor and heard it was right at the end of our street,” said McHugh. “We hear crashes all the time. That’s nothing new. But, a helicopter? It could have been a lot worse. Those drivers were very alert. they must have put the breaks on seriously,” said McHugh.
Remarkably, no vehicles were struck by the helicopter. No one on the ground was hurt.
The fire department says the crash could have been much worse.
“The lucky portion for us is the helicopter did not catch on fire because then we’d have an additional problem to that. We when operate on these freeways with any type of fire risk , we don’t have fire hydrants. So, all that water would have to brought in. And it being jet fuel loaded into these air crafts, it would be a very hot and intense fire,” said Captain Justin Sylvia with Sacramento Fire Department.
All three crew members injured in the crash are now being treated at UC Davis Medical Center.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
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Golden reported from Seattle and McAvoy from Honolulu. Associated Press writers Christopher Weber in Los Angeles and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.
