Medical helicopter crashes, 1 injured

A medical helicopter with four people on board crashed early Saturday just moments after it took off from a hospital, injuring one of its medical workers, authorities said.

The helicopter was taking a traffic accident victim from Quitman County Hospital to a hospital in Memphis, Tenn., said Jonathan Dancy, Quitman County's acting emergency management coordinator.

"It had just lifted off and got just above the trees," Dancy said. "The few witnesses who were here said it started rotating around and around and just went down."

He said the aircraft crashed about 20 feet from the hospital's helipad.

Dancy said the female patient did not suffer any additional injuries in the crash. She was later taken to Memphis by ambulance.

One of two medical personnel on board suffered a broken bone but his injuries were "nothing critical," Dancy said.

Dancy said was amazing that the pilot and the second medic were not injured.

"It looks like a mess," he said of the helicopter. "A lot of it is because they cut the top off it. But when you look at it, you wouldn't believe somebody survived."

A Federal Aviation Administration investigator arrived later in the day.

Marks is a town of 1,550 in the Mississippi Delta about 60 miles south of Memphis.