Duke Life Flight crashes in North Carolina, killing four aboard
Duke Life Flight helicopter crash kills four, Friday in Perquimans County, NC
Four people died after a life flight helicopter crashed northeast of North Carolina, according to a report.
A Eurocopter MBB-BK 117 went down in Belvedere on Friday. Four people were aboard the chopper, which Duke Health confirmed was one of its Life Flight helicopters.
State Highway Patrol told WRAL that the four people were killed in the wreckage.
The crash occurred near the town of Belvidere, south of the Perquimans-Gates county line.
Smoke bellows from the crash site after Duke Life Flight crashed in North Carolina, Friday
The last time a Duke Life Flight helicopter crashed was in a Burlington neighborhood in October 2000, killing the pilot, who was the only person aboard. In that crash, the pilot instructed the crew to take a patient from Alamance Regional Hospital to Duke University Hospital after seeing a warning light indicating a problem with transmission oil pressure. The crash occurred shortly after takeoff as the helicopter was returning to Durham.
Duke operates two Life Flight helicopters, both of which are 5 years old. They are based at Duke Hospital and at Johnston Regional Airport in Smithfield and fly to all of North Carolina and covers parts of South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.
Leave a Reply