A preliminary report has been issued on the crash of a UW Hospital Med Flight helicopter crash which claimed the lives of three crew members, but what caused the crash is still not known. The report, released Wednesday, does not say what might have caused the May 10 accident .
The National Transportation Safety Board says the helicopter struck the top of a ridge near the La Crosse airport before falling to the ground. The crew had just flown a patient to a La Crosse hospital when it stopped to refuel. The crash happened shortly after they departed for Madison. It was raining when they took off, but officials say the visibility was fair. Investigators say they saw damaged trees and fragments of rotor blades at the top of the ridge – and the main wreckage was found 600 feet away. It could take a few more months to a year to find out why the crash occurred.
