ASH FORK — Three people were hurt when a medical helicopter made a hard landing early Friday as it arrived to pick up a patient near Ash Fork, officials said.
The pilot, flight paramedic and flight nurse were hurt, according to Jonathan Collier, a spokesman with Air Evac Inc. They were taken to a hospital in Flagstaff, where two were in serious condition. None of the injuries appear to be life-threatening.
Collier was on his way to the scene and didn’t have any information yet on how the accident happened. There apparently was no fire.
The flight originated from the company’s base at the Prescott airport, one of several Air Evac runs in Arizona. The crash happened at about 3:30 a.m. MST.
Air Evac is a subsidiary of Louisiana-based PHI Inc., which provides helicopter services for the energy industry and has a medical evacuation division.
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Ash Fork is about 50 miles west of Flagstaff on Interstate 40.
The crew of the Eurocopter AS350 were on their way to pick up a motorcycle accident victim and were landing about two miles west of Ash Fork when the accident happened, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said. The FAA will investigate the crash.
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