What: Air Methods Corp Eurocopter AS-350 en route from a hospital in St. Joseph, MO
Where: a field a mile north of Midwest National Air Center. Missouri
When: April 26, 2011, 7 pm
Who: 3 crew and one patient
Why: The St. Joseph Missouri medical chopper was on the way to Liberty Kansas about to refuel at Midwest National Air Center in Mosby when it went down in a Clay County field. There is no indication what went wrong that caused the crash and skies were reported to be clear. The wreckage is reported to be mangled. According to the video below the wreck might have been a failed landing, hitting the skids, then flipping.
There were no survivors. The crew lost in the crash were Randy Bever, Flight Nurse, 47, of Savannah, Mo., Chris Frakes, Flight Paramedic, 36, of Savannah, Mo. and James Freudenberg, Pilot, 34, of Rapid City, Sd.
The name of the 58-year-old female passenger has not yet been released.
The helicopter was certified in 2005, good until 2013. Key Equipment Finance Inc. out of Boulder, CO.holds the lien and it was being operated by LifeNet, a subsidiary of Air Methods Inc. of Englewood, CO.
The NTSB is investigating.