At 12:16 EDT, a Eurocopter BK117, operating as an air medical helicopter, collided with a radio transmission tower located on the Weedon Island State Preserve. The pilot and two passengers were killed. The helicopter had dropped off a patient at Bayfront Medical Center and was returning to St. Joseph Hospital in Tampa along a newly established route. The new routing was in response to noise complaints from neighborhoods along the previous route. A witness said the helicopter was flying at about 500 feet agl when it hit a guy wire and crashed.
April 25, St. Petersburg, Fla. / Eurocopter BK117
At 12:16 EDT, a Eurocopter BK117, operating as an air medical helicopter, collided with a radio transmission tower located on the Weedon Island State Preserve. The pilot and two passengers were killed. The helicopter had dropped off a patient at Bayfront Medical Center and was returning to St. Joseph Hospital in Tampa along a newly established route. The new routing was in response to noise complaints from neighborhoods along the previous route. A witness said the helicopter was flying at about 500 feet agl when it hit a guy wire and crashed....
Key Takeaways:
- An air medical Eurocopter BK117 helicopter crashed into a radio transmission tower on Weedon Island State Preserve, resulting in the deaths of the pilot and two passengers.
- The helicopter was operating on a newly established route, implemented to address noise complaints, and a witness reported it struck a guy wire at approximately 500 feet agl.
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