OWENTON, Ky. — The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report on the fatal Oct. 7 medical helicopter crash in Owenton, Kentucky, where three crew members from Air Evac Lifeteam Base 133 in Grant County died on their way to pick up a patient. 

The NTSB said records from Kentucky State Police show the flight was requested at 5:14 p.m. and was confirmed three minutes later with a 14-minute estimated time of arrival, en route from Williamstown, Kentucky. Communication between the landing zone, near a local high school, and the helicopter continued for several minutes. The landing zone was equipped for the helicopter’s arrival. 

Members of the Bell 206 helicopter were advised at 5:24 p.m. fire units had yet to arrive, and the pilot advised he would continue circling the landing zone until it was prepared to land. At 5:29 p.m., the pilot advised the high school was “in sight” and that they would perform “a couple of recons, and then head down,” before county fire units reported an accident over their radios at 5:31 p.m.

According to the report, witnesses said the helicopter arrived from the north at “low altitude” and did not make any unusual sounds or movements. It said a television signal transmission tower was on the high school campus. Eyewitnesses reported the helicopter collided with a guy wire that was supporting the tower before it went down. A guy-wire is a cable, wire or rope that is used to brace something.

The site of a helicopter crash where three people were killed in Owenton, Kentucky on Oct. 7, 2024. The team from Air Evac Lifeteam out of Grant County, Kentucky, were on their way to pick up a patient when the crash happened. (Spectrum News 1/Tyler O’Neill)

The helicopter’s pilot held an airline transportation pilot certificate, the NTSB said. He had accrued 19,638 total hours of flight experience, 7,791 of which were in the accident helicopter model.

The report did not offer a cause for the crash; however, it mentioned much of the helicopter was deformed by fire and sustained impact damage. While wreckage was examined at the accident site, all major components of the helicopter were accounted for at the scene. 

NTSB said per Federal Aviation Administration and maintenance records, the Bell 206 was manufactured in 1990 and was powered by a Rolls-Royce M250-C30P, 650-horsepower turboshaft engine. It was most recently inspected Sept. 16, 2024, at 12,401 total aircraft hours. It was equipped with technology, providing both visual and aural terrain and obstacle advisories to the pilot and crew.

The Grant County Constable’s office identified the three crew members as Gale Alleman, Bethany Aicken and Jame Welsh.