Investigators Work To Determine Cause Of Deadly Medical Helicopter Crash

A commission that evaluates medical transport services has placed the accreditation of EagleMed on hold after a crash Tuesday evening.

One of its medical helicopters crashed behind the Choctaw Nation Healthcare Center in Talihina, 49-year old Michael Wilson of Bethel, Oklahoma was killed.

It was the third crash of one of its medical helicopters in Oklahoma since 2010.

You could see what's left of the wreckage just beyond a security car and yellow tape Wednesday.

"It was fairly close to the building," said hospital spokesperson Brandy Griffin. "I really couldn't give you an approximate distance, but it was right in our parking lot."

The helicopter was approximately 20 feet off the ground when it crashed just outside the hospital's emergency room.

The FAA, NTSB, Choctaw Tribal Police, and a team from EagleMed were in Talihina looking over the crash site Tuesday night.

Hospital officials say four people were on board, three crew members and one adult patient.

6/11/2013 Related Story: 1 Dead, 3 Injured In Medical Helicopter Crash In Talihina

The patient, Wilson, was killed and one of the flight nurses was taken to a Tulsa hospital in critical condition. The other crew members were treated and released Tuesday night.

The hospital says its own doctors and nurses helped rescue the crew members.

"All the proper procedures were followed and we actually ended up with enough staff wanting to come in, we had to turn them away, because we didn't want to overcrowd the scene. Our staff really did an outstanding job," Griffin said.

The crash happened as the helicopter was taking off from the hospital. Messages left with EagleMed's corporate office in Wichita were not returned, but the company posted this on its Facebook page:

"Thank you for the thoughts, prayers and concern for our crew at EagleMed, McAlester. Your support and love brings us comfort in this difficult time."

Because it's a remote hospital with a small number of beds and no ICU, it uses medical helicopters quite often, and Griffin said they train for scenarios just like this.

"We do practice different drills and disasters and the different codes that we have, just to improve in any way we can," Griffin said.

Since the crash happened near the emergency room, the hospital has been diverting patient traffic and ambulances through a different part of the grounds until the scene is cleared by investigators.

Investigators say they have recovered the audio and visual recording devices that were onboard.