2nd Update: Officials release identities of victims in fatal helicopter crash

Federal investigators say a medical helicopter, enroute from Charleston to its base in Conway, was attempting to divert to the Georgetown County Airport, when it crashed Friday night, killing all three crew members aboard.

A NTSB representative told reporters Saturday afternoon that the chopper was trying to land in Georgetown due to “a weather-related issue,“ when it slammed nose-first into a wooded area off of Whitehall Avenue, about a mile east of the Georgetown Airport.

Coroner Kenny Johnson identifies the victims as pilot Patrick Walters, 45, of Murrells Inlet, flight nurse Diana Conner, 42, of Florence and paramedic Rondolph Dove, 39, of Bladenboro, NC.

Johnson says all three bodies were taken to MUSC in Charleston for autopsies. Investigators are working to secure dental records in order to positively identify the bodies, all of which were badly burned.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudson says no patients were on board the American Eurocopter AS350B2, which was owned and operated by Omniflight Helicopters, Inc.

Knudson says the helicopter had dropped off a patient at about 9:35 p.m. Friday at MUSC, and was headed to the Conway airport, where it was based. Horry County has a lease agreement with Omniflight at the airport and the company provides medical transport services to the county through Carolina Life Flight.

Georgetown Emergency Management Director Sam Hodge says the last communication from the helicopter occurred at 11:16 p.m.

Hodge says emergency responders were later dispatched to the scene, and arrived after 1:00 a.m.

There was a small fire at site when crews arrived.

“Omniflight is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of its crew members and wishes to express its deepest regrets and sincerest condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives,“ the company said in the statement.

Company officials say they are working closely with the NTSB as the agency conducts a full investigation.

Hodge says the crash is the first deadly air accident in Georgetown County in ten years. The last deadly helicopter crash occurred in 1980.

In February, The NTSB held four days of hearings on how to stem what it called a “drastic increase” in medical helicopter accidents.

Over a recent 12-month period, the board probed nine fatal medical helicopter accidents that killed 35 people, a development that one board member at the time called “alarming.“

The NTSB said there were 55 EMS-related aviation accidents—both fatal and nonfatal—between January 2002 and January 2005 that could have been prevented with “simple corrective actions.“ In those crashes, 54 people were killed, and 18 were seriously injured, the NTSB said.

Among the accidents was the July 13, 2004 crash of a medical helicopter based out of Spartanburg. A Regional One Medical Air Service helicopter crashed in Newberry County after picking up a patient on Interstate 26. Three rescue workers and a patient on board died.