Witnesses saw medical helicopter hit wire on tower before crash, NTSB says [Video]

OWENTON, Ky. (WXIX) – An investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board says witnesses saw a medical helicopter’s rotor hit a guy wire connected to a communications tower before it crashed on Monday.

The crash killed three Air Evac Lifeteam crew members: pilot Gale Alleman, flight nurse Bethany Aicken and paramedic James Welsh.

Brian Rayner, a senior air safety investigator with the NTSB, said investigators are searching for a damaged main rotor blade from the helicopter.

Rayner shared several details regarding the crash crash of Air Evac 133 during a press conference on Tuesday:

• The crew members killed were a flight medic, nurse and pilot
• The pilot was hired six years ago and was experienced with more than 17,000 hours of flight time.
• The pilot had used the same landing zone as Monday’s crash before. “The number of times, I don’t know,” Rayner said.
• There’s a missing section of the …