Associated Press
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press
 Photo courtesy of KGBT4-TV Responders gather in a massive search-and-rescue effort after a medical helicopter crashed in Texas. All three onboard were found dead. |
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas — The bodies of a pilot and two medics killed when a medical helicopter crashed into Laguna Madre near South Padre Island have been recovered and identified.
The helicopter crashed Tuesday night during a 30-mile trip from Harlingen to South Padre Island to pick up a patient, Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio said. The helicopter had just aborted its trip due to bad weather when it went down, so there was no patient aboard.
Cameron County Justice of the Peace Bennie Ochoa identified the victims Wednesday as pilot Robert Lamar Goss, 54, of San Benito; and medics Raul Garcia Jr., 40, of Weslaco, and Michael T. Sanchez, 39, who had a post office box in San Benito.
Ochoa said autopsies would be conducted on the victims.
U.S. Coast Guard helicopters located the crash site about 2 1/2 miles west of South Padre Island. Divers recovered two of the bodies, both thought to be medics, Lucio said.
The pilot was recovered around 11:30 a.m., said U.S. Coast Guard public affairs officer Ben Sparacin.
The Coast Guard was maintaining a secure perimeter around the crash site Wednesday and a local salvage crew would be recovering the helicopter, he said.
The helicopter was part of the Valley AirCare emergency service.
A representative of Valley Air Care referred phone calls from The Associated Press to Metro Aviation, which he said was the aircraft’s operator. A woman who answered the phone for Metro Aviation said the company had no comment.