SkyLife Helicopter Went Down Friday With A Patient On Board

A SkyLife helicopter with a pilot, two medical personnel, and a patient on board went down Friday en route to San Joaquin Community Hospital in Bakersfield, CA. All four people on board the aircraft were fatally injured when it went down.

American Ambulance Company identified three of the people on board as Pilot Thomas Hampl, Nurse Marco Lopez, and Paramedic Kyle Juarez. The name of the patient, a woman, was not immediately released. It was also not said why she was being transported via helicopter to the hospital.

Television station KFSN in Fresno reports that the aircraft had departed from Porterville, CA en route to the hospital. It went down in an empty pasture in a rural area near McFarland, CA. Reporter Sontaya Rose posted on Twitter that the main cabin of the aircraft was in one piece, but the tail was a "short distance away."

NTSB investigator Joshua Cawthra said that there was not distress call from the crew, and that investigators are collecting information about the pilot, the aircraft, the weather, and other factors that may be related to the accident, according to ABC News. "Hopefully at the end we'll be able to say what happened, why it happened and ultimately prevent this type of accident from happening again," Cawthra said.

There was reportedly heavy rain and fog in the area, but Rose tweeted that it did not appear that nearby power lines were a factor in the accident.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov