Three people were killed Tuesday when a medical helicopter crashed in Fayette County, Tennessee as two of its employees were on their way to pick up an ailing child for treatment at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, NBC News reported. The crash occurred Tuesday morning at about 6:30 a.m, and was captured by amateur video.
The three victims were Carrie Barlow, Denise Adams and Charles Smith. Barlow, "a 43-year-old nurse on Le Bonheur's Pedi-Flite team, began her career at Le Bonheur in January of 2012. She worked as a nurse in West Tennessee for 13 years. Prior to joining the Le Bonheur team, she served as a neonatal intensive care nurse for Lauderdale Community Hospital in Ripley, Tennessee., and Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson, Tennessee," according to the hospital's web site. She was married with three children.
Adams, also 43, served as a respiratory therapist at the hospital for the past eight years, and lived in Arlington, Tennesse with her husband. She also had three children.
Charles, the 47-year-old pilot, joined Hospital Wing in 2012. He retired from the aviation unit of the Memphis Police Department in 2012 after more than 25 years of service, also according to the hospital's web site.
"We are deeply saddened by the loss of our Le Bonheur family members," said the hosptial's CEO Meri Armour.
"Lots of people count on us to go out and rescue children wherever they are. Pedi-Flite is like the cavalry, going out into the community and surrounding areas. Our families often tell me that once the Pedi-Flite team shows up, they know they're going to be taken care of. They went to pick up a young child that was in renal failure, as I understand. He was not on the flight. They were en route to get him when the [helicopter] crashed," he added.
The crew was "an incredibly talented group of professionals who rescues critically ill and injured children for a 130-mile radius and brings them to Le Bonheur. We do this every day, but this is an incredibly sad day for us," said Dr. Jay Pershad, a professor at the hospital told NBC Memphis station WMC.
