Medical chopper crash in Missouri kills 4

Four people were killed when a medical helicopter crashed in Clay County Friday night.

The Eurocopter AS-350 was carrying three crew members and a patient when it went down at about 7 p.m. in a field a mile north of Midwest National Air Center, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford said.

The airport is located near the small Clay County community of Mosby, about 20 miles northeast of Kansas City.

Lunsford said the helicopter was flying to the Kansas City suburb of Liberty. He said the aircraft was based in the northwestern Missouri city of St. Joseph, but he could not confirm that the flight originated there.

The helicopter was owned by Air Methods Corp., an Englewood, Colo.-based air ambulance operator, Lunsford said.

Both the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will have investigators on the scene early Saturday, Lunsford said.

Steve Porter said he lives near the crash scene: "I heard it fly overhead and it did not sound good," Porter told CBS Affiliate KCTV.

He likened the sound to a car misfiring.

Skies were clear at the time of the crash. Preliminary indications are the pilot reported the helicopter was low on fuel and was attempting to land in Mosby before contact was lost with LifeNet dispatchers.