3 presumed dead in medical plane crash

A medical plane slammed into a mountainside Friday, leaving three people dead amid the wreckage, authorities said.

The body of one crew member was recovered and authorities concluded no one else could have survived the impact, said Dustin Duncan of the International Association of Air Medical Services, who was acting as a spokesman for the plane's owner, Eagle Air Med Inc.

The company identified the crew as pilot Ric Miller, flight paramedic Dana Dedman and flight nurse Ronnie Helton.

"Our most humble and sincere condolences and regret go out to the families in mourning. Our hearts are broken, we have lost friends, co-workers and part of our family, a family that is now pulling together to get through this difficult time," vice president Jim Hunt said in a statement.

The twin-engine plane disappeared Thursday night during a flight from Chinle, Ariz., to Alamosa, about 160 miles southwest of Denver.

A pilot, a flight nurse and a paramedic were on the Beech King Air C-90A, said Mike Fergus, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman. They were on their way to pick up a patient in Alamosa for transport to Colorado Springs, said Duncan.

The unidentified patient was later transported by another air ambulance, Duncan said. Memorial Hospital said it couldn't release the patient's condition without a name.

The wreckage was found in mountainous terrain just west of the Continental Divide near 11,677-foot high Charleys Peak, which is about 35 miles southwest of Alamosa. High winds and fog prevented an air search Friday morning, but the weather cleared enough around noon for the search to begin, Archuleta Undersheriff John Weiss said. The plane was spotted about 1:45 p.m.