OWEN COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Community members continue to mourn the loss of three victims from a helicopter crash Monday Night.
"It's quite a tragedy for something like this to go on in a small town," Stone Robertson said.
Robertson is reacting to the news from Grant County where the crew was based as Air Evac Lifeteam 133. The crew frequently transported patients in and out of Frankfort Regional Medical Center.
"My heart just breaks into a million pieces for those that we've lost and for the others," Lydia Tims, Trauma Program Manager from Frankfort Regional said.
Flight paramedic James Welsh, flight nurse Bethany Aicken and Pilot Gale "Butch" Alleman all died in the crash.
Gary Foster knew Alleman very well.
"It's something where, when you lose someone out of nowhere, there's not enough words to explain what the feelings really are," Foster said.
As Kentucky State Police leads the death investigation working with the medical examiner, Trooper Chad Johnson points out the way the three victims put their lives on the line.
"We're talking about people who everyday went out to help other people and we're on their way to help other people to try to assist when this tragedy occurred," Johnson noted.
NTSB Senior Safety Investigator Brian Rayner was on the scene reiterating that the helicopter hit a guy wire and crashed.
"The physical environment includes the tower obviously and guy wires that support, and we're just going through all these things," Rayner said.
NTSB is working with the FAA leading the aircraft crash investigation.
