May 18, 2013

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Conditions at Omaha, Eppley Airfield, NE
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Reporter: Ann McIntire Email

Update: All Names Released In Fatal Helicopter Crash

Federal investigators are still looking for the cause of a medical helicopter crash in northern Iowa that killed three people.

Pilot Gene Grell, nurse Shelly Lair-Langenbau and paramedic Russell Piehl died when the helicopter crashed north of Ventura near Mason City Wednesday night. They were on the way to Emmetsburg to pick up a patient.

Lair-Langenbau and Piehl worked for Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa in Mason City.

The CEO of the medical transport company that owned the helicopter says the pilot didn't make any emergency call. The helicopter had a satellite tracking system that monitored its position and other information instead of the traditional onboard black box.

Weather was overcast with 10-to-15 mile per hour winds at the time of the crash.


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