LIFE FORCE helicopter carrying patient crashes in Macon County
By Kelly Doty & Samiar Nefzi
Click here for updates on this story
MACON COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — A medical transportation EC-135 helicopter carrying a patient has crashed in Macon County, officials say.
Macon County 911 Communications Supervisor Todd Seagle said a call declaring an emergency came in about 7 p.m., and, moments after the call ended, the helicopter went down.
A spokesperson with Erlanger Health System in Tennessee confirmed that LIFE FORCE 6 helicopter crashed while transporting a patient.
Macon County Sheriff Brent Holbrooks says the helicopter was traveling to Mission Hospital when it crashed along Middle Burningtown Road with four people onboard. Holbrooks also confirmed all four were alive.
Macon County Emergency Services Director Warren Cabe said the aircraft was transporting a patient and three crew members from a medical facility in Murphy.
Cabe said three people involved in the crash were transported by ground ambulance to Mission Hospital with minor to moderate injuries and one patient was transported to Angel Medical Center for evaluation.
Seagle said the patient and two crew members were taken to Mission. The pilot was not transported.
Cabe said there was no fire, but the aircraft sustained severe damage.
A section of Middle Burningtown Road will be closed until at least late in the day Friday as investigators sift through the wreckage and work to determine the cause of the crash, Cabe said.
The Erlanger Health System spokesperson said only preliminary details were available, but that this is the first crash in the LIFE FORCE program’s 34-year history.
According to LIFE FORCE Air Medical, the company began operating out of Andrews, N.C., in August 2017, when it opened a base at the Western North Carolina Airport.
LIFE FORCE operates two air-bus helicopters out of the base.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
