Three critical as helicopter crashes on California highway

First responders in Sacramento on Monday evening transported two women and a man to a local hospital after the medical helicopter they were in went down on U.S. Route 50. The three people injured were the pilot, a nurse, and a paramedic, Sacramento Fire Captain Justin Sylvia told local reporters. Passersby helped first responders rescue one of the victims, Syliva said. No other vehicles were involved in the crash. There were no patients on board the helicopter at the time of the accident.

What caused the crash? Officials by Tuesday morning had not yet determined why the helicopter went down, and federal authorities were expected to take over the investigation, said California Highway Patrol Officer Michael Harper. Flight tracking website Flightradar24 showed the helicopter crashed moments after taking off and heading north from the University of California Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. REACH Air Medical Services on Monday night said it was aware of the accident with its helicopter and was trying to determine what happened to cause the crash.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report about safety officials hearing testimony about the midair collision earlier this year between a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and a commercial jetliner.