UPDATED 9:30 a.m.: 3 apparently dead in Brownsville medical helicopter crash, sheriff says

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Jackson Sun

By NICHOLAS BEADLE and MARIANN MARTIN
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
March 25, 2010

A medical helicopter crashed this morning near Brownsville, and three people appear to be dead, Haywood County Sheriff Melvin Bond said. Three crew members were on board, but no patients, according to the medical transport company to which the aircraft belonged.

The cause of the crash has not yet been determined. Factory workers about three miles from crash site reported to the Sheriff's Office that they saw a lightning strike in the direction of the crash and then saw an orange fireball, Bond said.

Dispatchers who had been in communication with the helicopter crew lost contact with them a little before 6 a.m. and knew something was wrong, Bond said. The dispatchers used GPS tracking on the helicopter to locate the crash site.

Read more: http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20100325/NEWS01/100325001/1002/UPDATED+9+30+a.m.++3+apparently+dead+in+Brownsville+medical+helicopter+crash++sheriff+says

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This is Jackson, Tennessee, not Jackson, Mississippi. It is between Nashville and Memphis.

[panzerfaust]

1. This caught my eye, because of it being a medical evac flight to Brownsville

Though my heart does go out to those affected, I was relieved to see that it was not Brownsville, Texas - as almost certainly I would have then known those killed.

It seemed a bit odd to me that the paper's view is so parochial that, even though they are publishing on the World Wide Web, they feel no need to identify where, in the world, they actually are - all the place names being without "last names" ie "Jackson, TN"

I may have just missed it, but the closest I could come to finding where the paper was actually published was under the "about" link where I learned that "The Jackson Sun celebrates more than 150 years as the major news provider for West Tennessee."

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. "they feel no need to identify where, in the world, they actually are"

That threw me too. I thought they were in Jackson, MS, as one of the papers that gave the story big play was the Nashville Tennessean. I had to go to the weather page to learn that the Jackson where the paper was published was the one in Tennessee. I wanted to link to the Sun, as the Tennessean was pulling its pictures from the Sun. For the Jackson paper, this was a local story, not one that came in over the wire.

Among train enthusiasts, Jackson, TN, is known for being a division point on the GM&O Railroad, and for being where Casey Jones lived and is buried. The Sun covered the story of his fatal wreck.

Like you, when I hear "Brownsville," I immediately think of Texas.

These medical helicopter flights have a high accident rate, as an examination of the NTSB database shows.

Thanks for writing.

[Lars39]

3. They're not the only site that does that.

Happens all over. I can't count the number of times I've read an article and then had to try to find where the event occurred.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

7. Me too. I've had to go so far to look up area codes in the contact section as many no longer even ..

... list a contract street address. Annoying.

[amborin]

4. medi evac helicopters have a very high crash rate

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. NTSB - Helicopter Emergency Medical Services

NTSB - Helicopter Emergency Medical Services

I'm sure that when I check my email inbox, I'll find the notice from the NTSB that their investigators are already on their way to the accident site.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. Patsy Cline's plane crash

It occurred to me that the plane Patsy Cline was on crashed near here. Her plane crashed two counties over.

[Lars39]

8. Yep, crashed in Benton County.