— Sources Confirm A Spirit Air Ambulance Helicopter has crashed in Oneida County
HAZELHURST, Wis. (WSAW) — The FAA confirms a medical helicopter crash Thursday night is fatal.
A spokesman for the FAA said a Eurocopter AS350 helicopter departed Madison en route to Woodruff and crashed about 12 miles south of its destination. The helicopter is from Ascension.
A spokesman from Nimsgern Funeral Home said three people have died.
According to the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, the helicopter’s last known contact was at approximately 10:55 p.m. Thursday night. The Oneida County Dispatch Center received a call that the helicopter was missing at 11:22 p.m.
Tom Johnson said he lives close to the crash site, but initially wasn’t sure what he had heard.
“Well, I woke up and I heard a loud noise and it sounded like a loud muffler. And I got up and looked outside and there was no lights anywhere and it was just dead quiet so I just went back to sleep. It was a lot of … rotors hitting trees. Now that I know it was a helicopter, that makes sense. Since that what it sounded like– that chopping sound. Then it was quiet,” he said.
Emergency responders searched the area last known, and located the helicopter in the Town of Hazelhurst in a wooded area near S. Blue Lake Road.
The Associated Press reports at least eight agencies were involved in the search.
Hazelhurst is about 5 miles south of Minocqua.
The NTSB will lead the investigation.
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