From the Wisconsin State Journal:
UW Hospital’s Med Flight air ambulances are temporarily shut down after a helicopter crash last night that killed three near La Crosse.
Preliminary reports indicate that the UW Hospital helicopter may have flown into a hill and or struck some trees, Margaret Van Bree, chief operating officer of UW Hospital, said at an emotional press conference.
The crew, which included Dr. Darren Bean, nurse Mark Coyne and pilot Steve Lipperer, was killed.
Bean had worked at UW Hospital since 2002, and Coyne had been there at least 20 years, said Med Flight program director Mark Hanson. Lipperer worked for Air Methods, a Denver company from which the hospital leased the helicopter. He had been a pilot at least 10 years, Hanson said.
At about 8:30 p.m. Saturday the crew flew from UW Hospital to Gundersen Lutheran Health Care Center in La Crosse, Van Bree said.
Dr. Ryan Wubben, associate medical director of MedFlight, said the crew flew to another location — possibly Prairie du Chien — to pick up a patient and transport them to Gundersen because the Gundersen helicopter was busy.
Wubben said it is commonplace for medical helicopters in Wisconsin to provide coverage for each other. “We do it all the time,” Wubben said.
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