GhLinks Media
Three crew members have died in a Kentucky medical helicopter crash late Monday night.
The company said in a statement: “Air Evac Lifeteam is heartbroken to share that three crew members from AEL base 133 perished in a helicopter accident in Owenton, Kentucky today.” The three were on their way to pick up a patient when the incident happened.
“Our primary focus now is on supporting the families who were impacted, as well as our team members,” the statement said. “Critical incident stress management teams have been sent to assist our team members during this difficult time. This was a terribly tragic accident, and our deepest sympathies go out to the employees’ families and friends.”
According to the National Transportation and Safety Board the model of the helicopter was Bell 206L-3.
Kentucky State Police identified the crew as Gale Alleman, Bethany Aicken and James Welsh and were all pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.
The three were based out of Grant County and took off from Williamstown at 5:22 p.m. local time and were last reported “near Frankfort” around 5:30 p.m.
The helicopter crashed near Amigo Owenton a local restaurant off State Route 22, according to a social media post from Owen County Fire and Rescue Departments. Several people were eating on the patio of the restaurant and witnessed the crash unfold.
The owner of Amigos, Ernesto Hernandez,told local WLWT-5 “Everybody working, we heard a big explosion. We come outside and we see a lot of dark sky, everybody wondering what happened.”
The crash reportedly caused a power outage in the area that lasted for about an hour, according to the Owen Electric Cooperative.
All power has been restored to customers around 6:50 p.m. according the company
