Investigators seek cause of medical helicopter crash

Published On: Jan 04 2013 11:35:54 AM CST   Updated On: Jan 04 2013 11:36:13 AM CST
Police lights file
MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) -

Federal investigators are still looking for the cause of a medical helicopter crash in northern Iowa that killed three people.

Pilot Gene Grell, nurse Shelly Lair-Langenbau and paramedic Russell Piehl died when the helicopter crashed north of Ventura Wednesday night. They were on the way to Emmetsburg to pick up a patient.

Lair-Langenbau and Piehl worked for Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa in Mason City.

The CEO of the medical transport company that owned the helicopter says the pilot didn't make any emergency call. The helicopter had a satellite tracking system that monitored its position and other information instead of the traditional onboard black box.

Weather was overcast with 10-to-15 mile per hour winds at the time of the crash.

  • Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.