Helicopter’s safety design, pilot’s skill may have saved crew in Sacramento crash, expert says

By Brady Halbleib

The crew of a medical helicopter that crashed on Highway 50 in Sacramento may have survived thanks to the pilot’s skill and the aircraft’s modern safety design, an aviation expert said.

Captain Augustine Joseph, an aviation expert and instructor at Sacramento Executive Airport, said that likely made all the difference.

Video from the scene shows the REACH Air Medical helicopter crashing onto the highway just moments after taking off from UC Davis Medical Center, less than half a mile away. While smoke was visible coming from the wreckage, there was no noticeable fire or explosion.  

“A lot of safety systems have been incorporated into modern helicopters,” Joseph said. “That’s one of the possible reasons there wasn’t a fire. One of the leading causes of fatal crashes is burns.”

Joseph said that most newer aircraft are built with crash-resistant fuel systems that help prevent explosions or fires after impact. 

But the lack of fire wasn’t the only factor. Joseph credits the pilot’s actions in those final moments for keeping the crash from turning deadly.

“He did an exceptional job bringing it down controlled,” Joseph said.

Flight records show the helicopter had just lifted off and was likely flying below 500 feet and roughly 60 miles per hour when it went down. That’s within what aviation experts call the “dead man’s curve,” a zone where a helicopter is too low and slow to recover from an engine failure.

“The dead man’s curve shows the altitude and speed where, if you lose power, you have very little chance of survival,” Joseph explained. “Even though he was in that zone, the pilot reacted exceptionally well.”

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating what caused the crash. Joseph emphasized that his comments are based on early observations, and the full report will determine the official cause.