Updated, 3:45 pm.
A PRIVATELY-OWNED MEDICAL HELICOPTER CRASHED late last night (Friday) in Georgetown County, South Carolina. All three people on board, including the pilot, a paramedic, and a flight nurse died.
According to a statement from Omniflight Helicopters, Inc., it’s American Eurocopter AS350B2 crashed after taking off from Charleston shortly after 11:00 p.m. The helicopter was headed to Conway, where it was based. It had dropped a patient off in Charleston around 9:35 pm.
FAA Spokeswoman Kathleen Bergin says the pilot last radioed air traffic control at 11:05 pm saying they were four miles from the Mt Pleasant Aiport and had it in sight. Omniflight’s Operations Center last had contact with the helicopter at 11:16 pm Friday night. The pilot is required to periodically check in with the company. After not hearing from them again, the company became concerned and called 9-1-1. The wreckage was located a 1/4 of a mile down White Hall Road off Highway 17 in Georgetown County in a wooded area. The county coroner Kenny Johnson said it’s an isolated wreckage scene, ”like it just dropped out of the sky.”
WCBD-TV Ch. 2 is reporting:
Coroner Kenny Johnson identifies the victim as as pilot Patrick Walters, 45, of Murrells Inlet, flight nurse Diana Conner, 42, of Florence and paramedic Rondolph Dove, 39, of Bladenboro, NC.
Johnson says all three bodies were taken to MUSC in Charleston for autospies. Investigators are working to secure dental records in order to positively identify the bodies, all of which were badly burned. (No patients were on board.)
Georgetown Emergency Management Director Sam Hodge says the last communication from the helicopter occured at 11:16 p.m. Hodge says emergency responders were later dispatched to the scene, and arrived after 1:00 a.m. There was a small fire at site when crews arrived.
TV Channel 15 meterologist Ed Piotrowski says there was rain and thunderstorms in and around Georgetown County around the time of the crash.
