MOUNTAIN CITY, TN (WJHL) – Johnson County Sheriff’s Office officials confirmed a medical helicopter crashed in the Laurel Bloomery area of Johnson County while picking up a patient Friday afternoon.
Johnson County Sheriff Mike Reece confirmed a Wellmont helicopter was picking up a patient involved in a car crash on Highway 91.
The patient was loaded onto the helicopter, aircraft took off and was around 100 feet in the air when the motor reportedly stopped working.
The helicopter then came back down and crashed in a parking lot near the intersection of Highway 91 and Cold Springs Road.
The helicopter’s pilot was taken to a hospital.
The car crash patient was later loaded into another helicopter to be flown for treatment.
The following is a statement from Wellmont Health System officials in regards to the helicopter crash:
WellmontOne Air Transport was dispatched Friday, June 3, to Johnson County to transport a patient.
Soon after liftoff, the pilot, an employee of PHI Air Medical, which owns and operates the aircraft, identified a mechanical condition that required immediate landing. He executed emergency procedures to bring the aircraft to the ground, limiting risk to the passengers and damage to the aircraft.
Another emergency medical services agency continued the patient’s transport to the hospital. Additionally, the pilot was taken to a nearby medical facility after sustaining nonlife-threatening injuries.
Wellmont and PHI Air Medical are reviewing this matter to determine exactly what happened and are cooperating with all authorities. We are grateful for the quick actions of the crew, which demonstrated their extensive training, and are relieved that all are safe.”
Around 5:15 p.m. Friday, Wellmont officials sent an update saying “the pilot of the WellmontOne Air Transport helicopter has been evaluated and released from the nearby medical facility where he was taken.”
