Douglas County Helicopter Crash Victims’ Names Released

The names of three people injured in a medical helicopter crash have been released. On Saturday, a North Memorial Air Care helicopter en route to a patient pick up was involved in an unknown incident.

On board the aircraft was pilot Joshua Jones, 47, Flight Nurse Scott Scepaniak, 44, and Flight Paramedic Miles Weske, 34. The patient was not on board at the time of the incident.

A 911 call of a possible helicopter crash to the Douglas County Sheriff’s department was received at 2:07 AM on September 17th, according to a press release. Responding personnel confirmed the crash near the Alexandria Airport.

Alexandria Police Department, Alexandria Fire Department and North Memorial Ambulance service assisted at the scene. The victims was transported to Douglas County Hospital for unknown injuries. They were later transferred to North Memorial Medial Center in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. The Sheriff’s office said the three were still hospitalized as of Sunday.

The sheriff’s department said in a press release that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was at the crash site on September 17th and would remain at the site for a few days. The helicopter manufacturer has also visited the scene. The NTSB, FAA, and Sheriff’s office hoped to remove the wreckage by Monday for transport to Minneapolis for further investigation.

The preliminary report will be available in the coming days from the NTSB. A final report will be completed within nine to 12 months.

North Memorial Hospital and North Memorial Air Care will be working with investigators.