Thursday, November 5, 2009
AZ medical helicopter crashes, 2 injured
SAN CARLOS, Ariz. (AP) -- Authorities say a medical helicopter has crashed on Arizona's San Carlos Indian reservation during a training flight and both people aboard are seriously injured. There were no patients on the flight.
The pilot of the Eurocopter AS 350 lost control while trying to land at San Carlos's Cutter airport around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor tells KSAZ Fox Channel 10 in Phoenix.
Bureau of Indian Affairs spokesman Warren Youngman says both people aboard were hospitalized with serious injuries.
A spokesman for Native Air's parent company, Joel Hochhalter, tells KPNX-TV the training helicopter is not configured for medical transportation.
Calls to the FAA and BIA went unanswered early Thursday morning.
The reservation is about 60 miles east of Phoenix.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
