A helicopter landed at an accident scene near Mediapolis in southeast Iowa late last night, and it’s still there, being repaired today. A fire truck leaving the scene to go on another call hit the helicopter.
"There’s a spotlight up on top of the truck that’s on a pedestal and that’s what clipped the rotor of the aircraft," says Iowa State Patrolman Tom Law.
There had been a two-vehicle accident and a "MedForce" helicopter was dispatched to the scene. The helicopter landed on Highway 61, but the fire fighters at the scene were dispatched to a second accident near the gympsom plant south of Mediapolis.
"The driver of the fire truck and the assistant chief got in the truck, started to leave the area to go to the second accident," Law says. "That’s when they struck the main rotor on the helicopter."
The fire truck suffered minor damage and was still drivable, but the helicopter was disabled. A second helicopter was dispatched to the scene to fly an accident victim to University Hospitals in Iowa City. When Law left the scene after midnight, the first helicopter was still there.
"It’s sitting dead center of Highway 61, just south of 260th Street," Law says. That’s north of the town of Mediapolis. The first wreck involved two vehicles that collided at the unlit intersection.