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The helicopter crashed shortly after it took off from the La Crosse Airport at 10:43 p.m. and was found about 8:25 a.m. today off Keil Coulee Road in the town of Medary by Onalaska firefighters searching on foot, said Onalaska fire chief Don Dominick.
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Preliminary reports indicate that the UW Hospital helicopter may have flown into a hill and or struck some trees, Margaret Van Bree, chief operating officer of UW Hospital, said at an emotional press conference.
The helicopter crew, which included Dr. Darren Bean, nurse Mark Coyne and pilot Steve Lipperer, were killed.
Bean had worked at UW Hospital since 2002, and Coyne had been there at least 20 years, said Med Flight program director Mark Hanson. Lipperer worked for Air Methods, a Denver company from which the hospital leased the helicopter. He had been a pilot at least 10 years, Med Flight Program Director Mark Hanson said.
The crew had transported a patient from UW Hospital to Gundersen Lutheran Saturday evening and was traveling back to UW Hospital when the helicopter went missing.
The helicopter left Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center about 10:30 p.m. and stopped to fuel at the La Crosse Municipal Airport, said UW Hospital spokesman Ron Gilmore.
 More photosMay 11, 2008 A UW Hospital Med Flight helicopter crashed Saturday night in a wooded coulee in the town Of Medary. Here are more photos of the scene. PLAY » |
Crews began looking for the aircraft about 11:15 p.m. Saturday and narrowed their search from “hits” off nearby cellular towers and calls to 911 from neighbors who heard a loud noise, Dominick said.
Fog, new spring foliage, and rough terrain made the search difficult and wore on the rescuers combing the wooded bluffs, he said.
“Firefighters aren’t going to say they’re tired,” Dominick said. “Fortunately, I know the faces of some.”
La Crosse County Sheriff Steve Helgeson said the weather prohibited the use of airplanes or helicopters.
The helicopter was found about 400 yards from Randy Viner and Deborah Rice-Viner’s house on Keil Coulee Road.
“It hit at the top of the hill and ended up three-fourths of the way down,” Viner said, standing on an old logging trail near the wreckage.
Viner didn’t hear anything when the helicopter crashed but Rice-Viner said she heard what sounded like thunder while reading the paper Saturday night.
“It’s too bad this had to happen to these people,” Viner said. “It is sad that these people got killed here.”
The American Eurocopter EC 13 was leased last year from Air Methods, Van Bree said.
Thirty-three firefighters from Onalaska, West Salem, Holmen and the towns of Campbell and Shelby were involved in the search, and the La Crosse County Sheriff's Department, Wisconsin State Patrol, Department of Natural Resources, Civil Air Patrol and La Crosse County Emergency Management searched as well.
For more on this story, turn to Monday's Tribune or return to www.lacrossetribune.com for updates throughout the day.
