Four die in West Texas crash of medical helicopter
PYOTE, Texas (AP) — Four people, including a 3-month-old baby, were killed early Sunday when a medical helicopter en route to a Lubbock hospital crashed in rural West Texas. A nurse was critically injured.
The baby, his mother, the pilot and a paramedic died in the crash near Pyote, about 250 miles southwest of Lubbock, said CeCe Wilmes, the director of emergency services and flight services at Medical Center Hospital in Odessa.
The helicopter, based at Odessa's Medical Center Hospital, had left Big Bend Regional Hospital in Alpine about 1:45 a.m. and was headed to University Medical Center in Lubbock.
The dead were identified as Medical Center Hospital CareStar pilot Mickey Price, of Dumas; hospital paramedic Paul Lujan of Midland; Ana Lillia Urias and 3-month-old Pedro Urias Modesto, both of Mexico, hometown unknown, said William Webster, chief executive officer of Medical Center Hospital. The baby was being taken to Lubbock because it was suffering respiratory distress.
Medical Center Hospital registered nurse Ronald Stephens, 35, of Midland, was taken to Covenant Hospital in Lubbock. He was in critical condition, undergoing surgery Sunday morning, Wilmes said.
Wilmes said that the last contact they had with the helicopter was at 2:19 a.m., when he was near Pecos and giving an update on his position.
Wilmes said that Price was giving his flight coordinates to an Odessa Fire Department dispatcher when he said, "Hold on a minute."
A minute later, Price did not respond to the dispatcher
source