Medical Helicopter Crash in Sacramento, CA, Critically Injures 3

The Reach Air Medical Services chopper crashed on Highway 50 in Sacramento leaving the pilot, nurse and paramedic seriously injured.

Oct. 7, 2025

4 min read

Ishani Desai
The Sacramento Bee
(TNS)

Three people were critically injured Monday evening after a medevac helicopter crashed onto freeway lanes of Highway 50 in East Sacramento.

The Airbus H-130 helicopter, operated by Reach Air Medical Services, went down just before 7:10 p.m. near Howe Avenue, prompting a large emergency response and a full closure of the freeway. Westbound traffic resumed minutes later, but eastbound lanes remained closed into the night.

Photos from the scene showed a red helicopter on its side in the middle of the freeway as first responders tended to the injured. Three people — a pilot, a nurse and a paramedic — were aboard the helicopter and suffered critical injuries when it went down, according to firefighters.

All three were taken to hospitals and are listed as “critical,” said Sacramento Fire Department Capt. Justin Sylvia. He said all three were transported to hospitals within 20 minutes of the crash.

Responding crews found the helicopter upside down in the roadway with a large debris field but no fire. Sylvia said firefighters initially dispatched an engine, a truck, a battalion chief and an ambulance for a reported vehicle extraction.

“Further updates came in from multiple callers reporting a helicopter had crashed in the middle of Highway 50,” Sylvia said. “At that point, we were getting initial reports that there were vehicles involved. However, after walking the scene, there are no additional vehicles involved.”

The first arriving engine found one of the victims had been trapped under the helicopter, Sylvia said.

“The captain immediately sequestered the help of just civilians that were standing around,” Sylvia said. “They were able to lift part of that helicopter out and get that victim out so we could get them loaded into the back of an ambulance and transported off scene.”

According to aircraft tracking service FlightRadar24, the Airbus H-130 helicopter operated as Reach 5 had taken off from the roof of UC Davis Medical Center just minutes before the crash.

Representatives for Reach, which is based at McClellan Airport, confirmed the crash involving its helicopter.

“We are aware of an accident involving a REACH Air Medical helicopter on Highway 50 in Sacramento this evening and are keeping all those impacted in our thoughts and prayers,” a spokesperson for Texas-based Global Medical Response said in an email.

The spokesperson confirmed no patients were aboard and said more updates would be provided “as it becomes available.”

According to FAA records, the helicopter has been in service with Reach since 2021.

A video posted to TikTok by user @vladmallco showed the helicopter hovering above the freeway before it plunged to the ground, tilting onto its left side as its rotor blades snapped off. The brief clip appeared to show one of the landing skids shaking moments before the crash.

Emergency crews faced challenges reaching the crash site due to heavy traffic and the ongoing freeway construction zone. Sylvia said fire crews had to access the scene by driving in the wrong direction from 59th Street.

“Traffic is the biggest thing for us. Everyone’s just bound up. There’s nowhere for them to go, especially in a construction zone — makes it rather difficult for our large apparatus to navigate around,” he said.

California Highway Patrol dispatch logs indicated that all lanes were blocked immediately after the crash, with officials requesting a SigAlert. By 7:14 p.m., authorities described the incident as a “major” scene requiring Caltrans assistance and long-term closures.

“The freeway is going to be shut down for an extended period of time,” said Officer Michael Harper, a spokesperson for CHP South Sacramento.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were expected to be the lead agencies investigating the cause of the crash, though FAA and NTSB representatives were not immediately available for comment due to the ongoing federal government shutdown.

By 8 p.m., Caltrans, the CHP and the Sacramento Police Department had set up several road closures and diversions. Among them:

Eastbound Highway 50 on the W-X Freeway was being diverted at the Highway 99 interchange to the Capital City Freeway and Highway 99. Traffic appeared backed up to the Interstate 5 interchange and the Pioneer Bridge over the Sacramento River.
Westbound Highway 50 traffic is slow-going but lanes appear open.
Traffic on Stockton Boulevard on-ramp to westbound 50 was being turned around.
Northbound Highway 99 to eastbound Highway 50 transition ramp was shut down.
Southbound Capital City Freeway on-ramp to Highway 50 east is shut down.