Helicopter crash on Highway 50 updates: Who was on board the aircraft?
A medevac helicopter on Monday night crashed onto the freeway lanes of Highway 50 in East Sacramento, leaving three people with critical injuries while blocking eastbound traffic through the night.
Just before 7:10 p.m., the helicopter, seconds after departing UC Davis Medical Center, fell from the sky east of the hospital campus, onto the eastbound lanes just west of 59th Street.
The location of the crash lies about a mile west of the Sacramento State campus, not far from Hornet Stadium. The American River lies about a mile east of that stretch of highway, just beyond the college campus.
This story will be updated throughout Tuesday as information becomes available.
Name of nurse confirmed
Among the people who were involved in the crash was Susan Smith, according to Kevin Luntey, her brother-in-law. Smith, a 67-year-old nurse from the Redding area, was one of three people hospitalized from the crash.
Redding Mayor Jack Munns said that he went to Enterprise High School with Smith, where she was class of 1976. He sounded shocked when informed by The Sacramento Bee that Smith was among those hospitalized.
“She was a great gal,” Munns said. “I sat right next to her in one of my classes.”
Smith was hospitalized in critical condition. Her condition Tuesday morning was unknown, with Luntey saying the family would be providing further information soon.
All three people hospitalized appeared to have been working onboard a flight operated by REACH 5, according to firefighters. The other two people hospitalized were the pilot and a paramedic.
“We just pray the best for them, that our hopes and prayers are with them and that they come to full recovery,” Munns said.
What agency will investigate the medevac crash?
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.
“The NTSB is investigating the crash Monday of an Airbus EC-130 T2 helicopter operated by Reach Air Medical Services in Sacramento, California,” the agency posted to X at 6:57 a.m. Tuesday.
Where did the helicopter come from?
The helicopter, operated by Reach Air Medical Services from McClellan Airport, had departed from the roof of UC Davis Medical Center shortly before the crash and that there were no patients aboard.
The medical center is the only Level I trauma center in the Sacramento region.
The helicopter was heading back to Redding when it crashed, according to NTSB.
Traffic the morning after the helicopter crash
Traffic appeared to be flowing normally, early Tuesday morning.
There were no longer any closures associated with the crash, a representative for California Highway Patrol’s Sacramento Communications Center said when contacted around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. The dramatic crash, which sent three people to the hospital in critical condition, initially halted traffic in both directions of the highway.
A live traffic map on 511.org showed traffic flowing relatively smoothly around this time at the scene of the crash. One lane of traffic in the eastbound direction appeared to still be closed, though two other lanes were open and flowing smoothly.
This story was originally published October 7, 2025 at 5:50 AM.
