Medical helicopter crashes on Highway 50 in Sacramento, all 3 aboard critically injured
Medical helicopter crashes on Sacramento freeway, injuring 3
A medical helicopter crashed on Highway 50 in Sacramento on Monday. Three people on board were critically injured. No one on the ground was injured. Officials said civilians helped one of the victims who was pinned under the wreck.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A medical helicopter crashed on Highway 50 in Sacramento Monday evening.
The helicopter crashed at 7:08 p.m. on eastbound Highway 50 near the Highway 99 junction. Officials held a news conference and said that no vehicles were involved in the crash.
A Sacramento fire captain said all three victims were aboard the helicopter, including a pilot, nurse and paramedic. They were all taken to the hospital and are said to be in critical condition.
Firefighters said the impact of the crash pinned one of the victims underneath the chopper. As many as 15 civilians came to the rescue of the person trapped under the debris.
A mangled REACH medical helicopter blocks US-50 following a crash landing that critically injured three people on board in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, October 6, 2025. (Jaden Schaul / KTVU)
"We only had one engine on scene at that point, others were trying to gain access," said Sacramento Fire Capt. Justin Silva. "The captain requested the help of civilians. They were able to lift the helicopter so we could get that victim loaded into an ambulance and transported off scene."
One of those civilians spoke with KCRA, a TV news station in Sacramento.
"It just plummeted out of the sky and it hit hard," said good Samaritan, Aimee Braddock.
"And then just instantaneous black smoke everywhere. Just engulfed the whole thing. As soon as I saw that everybody was moving, trying to push the helicopter out to help the first responders try to get to the passenger, I just ran over and got in the line of people and was just…help pushing it as much as I could and then we held it for several minutes so that the first responders could help get the person out," Braddock said.
This is causing a massive traffic delay in the area. CHP in the South Sacramento area said the State Route 99 northbound connector to US 50 eastbound is shut down. There was no estimated time of reopening. On social media, CHP advised to use alternate routes and to expect delays.
Emergency crews were seen responding to the scene from KCRA's news helicopter.
Eyewitness and good Samaritan accounts of helicopter crash in Sacramento
An eyewitness and good Samaritan describe what they saw and how they reacted when a helicopter crashed onto a highway in Sacramento on Monday night.
A mangled REACH medical helicopter blocks US-50 following a crash landing that critically injured three people on board in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, October 6, 2025. (Jaden Schaul / KTVU)
A TikTok user posted video footage of the crash from the account, vladmallco (MallCo). The helicopter can be seen in the air before the violent moment of impact. A large amount of white smoke can be seen in the immediate aftermath coming from the helicopter. Officials said the helicopter did not catch fire.
The witness who filmed this spoke to KCRA. Chad Montgomery told the station he saw the helicopter coming down towards himself and his wife while they were in their car.
"It was violently shaking," Montgomery said. "The helicopter itself, the landing gear underneath the helicopter itself was shaking, like rattling in the air. So I knew something was off as it was approaching very low. I was screaming to my wife, I go, ‘This thing’s coming down. It's going down, it's going down, it's going down.'"
Montomery said the helicopter crashed into the highway and it took a while for the white smoke to settle down. "It took quite a while for that engine to like wind down or eventually just shut off," he said.
The cause of the crash is under investigation as multiple agencies responded, said Mike Carrillo, a spokesperson for the Valley Division of CHP.
This is a developing story. We will bring you the latest information as it comes into the newsroom.
KCRA and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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