Preliminary Report: SAR 407 blade strikes paramedic

Bell 407, Sedona, Ariz., Oct. 13, 2008–An Arizona Department of Public Safety paramedic was killed during a search-and-rescue operation on Doe Mountain near Sedona. The helicopter crew had flown from Flagstaff Pulliam Airport to help find two stranded hikers. They spotted the hikers on the mountain, notified the Sedona Fire Department, which had initiated the search, and landed on a large boulder near the hikers. The paramedic led one of the hikers to the helicopter and was hit by the main rotor blade when he was returning to the helicopter with the second.