Three people are in critical condition after a medical helicopter crashed on a highway in Sacramento Monday night, according to local fire officials.
The incident happened eastbound on Highway 50 after 7 p.m. local time after a REACH Air Medical Services helicopter went down.
The helicopter had completed transferring a patient to a hospital and was returning to its dispatch location when it experienced an “in-air emergency,” said Capt. Justin Sylvia, a spokesperson for the Sacramento Fire Department, at a news conference.
The victims — two women and a man — were identified as a pilot, nurse and paramedic. They were transported to local hospitals in critical condition, Sylvia said.
He said it was “mind-blowing” that no one else was injured, given that the helicopter crashed in the centre of the highway.
“We’re extremely lucky that there were only three victims. It’s unfortunate they’re in critical condition, but all of our ambulances were off scene with transportation and care being performed on these victims within 20 minutes of the incident,” Sylvia told reporters at the scene.
Sylvia said it looks like the helicopter crashed upside down and left a large debris field.
“People reported that they basically saw the helicopter kind of going down quickly. So all the traffic slowed down,” he said.
One of the people injured was trapped underneath the helicopter, and a small crew from the fire department was able to work with people on the highway to push the aircraft off the woman to get her out and into an ambulance.
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“It took every ounce of all approximately 15 people to move that aircraft up just enough to get her out,” Sylvia said, adding that the helicopter did not catch on fire.
The crash closed the eastbound lanes of Highway 50, according to officer Michael Harper, a spokesperson for the California Highway Patrol.
A medical helicopter is shown after it crashed on Highway 50 on Oct. 6, 2025, in Sacramento, Calif.
AP Photo / Scott Marshall
In a statement on Facebook, REACH Air Medical Services said that they “are keeping all those impacted in our thoughts and prayers.”
“We are in the process of determining the details of this situation, as well as the condition of the REACH crew involved, who were all taken to area hospitals,” the company’s statement said.
The California Highway Patrol is currently working alongside the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration to investigate the crash, according to ABC News.
Sacramento City council member Lisa Kaplan said she was on a ride-along with law enforcement responding to the crash when she saw plumes of white smoke coming out of the helicopter.
“It’s really sombering and sobering. I am up flying with sheriff pilots that do this day in and day out. And it really makes you grateful for every day and grateful for our officers and our medical pilots,” Kaplan told KSNB Local 4.
“There has been a harrowing helicopter crash on 50 eastbound west of 59th St.,” Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty said in a post on X. “Thank you to our brave first responders (@SacFirePIO) & ~15 bystanders who assisted Sac Fire until more units arrived on scene.”
—With files from The Associated Press
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