Medical helicopter crashes in Olympia

OLYMPIA – Federal investigators were at Providence-St. Peter Hospital early Saturday, examining debris from the second Airlift Northwest medical-evacuation helicopter crash in a month.

None of the four people on board was seriously injured in the accident, which occurred on takeoff from the hospital roof late Friday. The previous crash, Sept. 29 near Edmonds, killed all three crew members.

Weather on the coast was too rough, so the pilot “wisely decided” to do the pickup in Olympia, said Michael Copass, medical director at Airlift Northwest. The patient on board had “a life-threatening vascular issue,” he said.

The patient was not injured in the crash, which occurred immediately after liftoff.

“On takeoff, the helicopter lost power and more or less fell off the building,” landing between the hospital and an outbuilding, Copass said.