Who are Dustin Pope, Jakob Kindt, and Cal Wesolowski, the responders killed in Mississippi medical helicopter crash?
On March 10, a medical helicopter crash in Madison County, Mississippi, claimed the lives of three first responders.
Three first responders were lost when a medical helicopter crashed in Madison County, Mississippi, on Monday, March 10.
On Tuesday, March 11, the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) identified the victims as Dustin Pope, 35, of Philadelphia; Jakob Kindt, 37, of Tupelo; and Cal Wesolowski, 62, of Starkville.
“We are heartbroken by the loss of the crew of AirCare 3 during yesterday's crash in Madison County,” UMMC mourned in their Facebook post.
AirCare helicopter crash claims lives of three in UMMC
The three first responders were travelling in an AirCare Eurocopter EC-135 helicopter when the aircraft went down in a heavily wooded area south of the Natchez Trace Parkway and north of Pipeline Road in Madison County.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported that the crash occurred at approximately 1:15 p.m. on Monday, March 10. No patients were on board at the time of the accident.
Wesolowski served as the pilot for Med-Trans, while Pope was the base supervisor for AirCare in Columbus and worked as a flight nurse. Kindt was a critical care paramedic, per WJTV News 12.
Pope and Kindt have been employed with UMMC since August 14, 2017. The loss deeply affected the medical community.
NTSB investigates Mississippi helicopter crash
During a press briefing, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) spokesperson Todd Imman shared, “At one point during the flight, they ceased communications with air traffic control and communicated with base.”
Before the crash, Wesolowski reported that the crew was experiencing issues and intended to attempt an emergency landing in a field, Imman noted. Shortly after, 911 calls from a witness confirmed that the helicopter had crashed.
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Emergency responders faced challenges extinguishing the flames at the crash site, which was located in a remote and muddy area. Imman explained it took between two and three hours to fully suppress the fire. “We just finished our initial site visit. We were able to observe tree scratch marks that would be consistent with a rotor strike,” he explained, per WAPT.
Investigators anticipate releasing a preliminary report on the accident within 30 days, while the full investigation could take between 12 and 24 months, the outlet reported. The FAA and the NTSB continue to investigate the cause of the crash