Bystander recounts jumping in to help after medical helicopter crashes on Highway 50 in Sacramento

YOU’RE LOOKING AT. SO WE MENTIONED ACTS OF HEROISM TONIGHT. TAKE A LOOK AT THIS VIDEO JUST INTO OUR NEWSROOM. YOU CAN SEE THOSE BYSTANDERS WORKING TO LIFT THAT HELICOPTER OFF OF ONE OF THE VICTIMS. OUR TEAM COVERAGE CONTINUES NOW WITH KCRA 3’S CAROLINA ESTRADA. SHE’S LIVE FOR US ALONG HIGHWAY 50. IT IS REALLY SOMETHING TO SEE THERE. CATALINA. AND YOU HAD A CHANCE TO SPEAK WITH WITNESSES AND SOME OF THOSE BYSTANDERS WHO THEY JUMPED IN TO HELP, AND THEY HAD NO PROBLEM HELPING. NO. GULSTAN DART. THEY ACTUALLY TOLD US AND DESCRIBED THE MOMENTS RIGHT WHEN THEY SAW THAT HELICOPTER COMING TOWARDS THEM. THEY SAY IT WAS TERRIFYING. THEN THEY WERE IN DISBELIEF WHEN THEY SAW IT CRASH IN THE MIDDLE OF HIGHWAY 50, AND THEN THEY DIDN’T DOUBT TO JUMP IN AND HELP WHEN IT WAS NEEDED. WE’LL HEAR FROM THEM IN JUST A SECOND. BUT FIRST, I WANT TO SHOW YOU OUT HERE THE SCENE THAT WE HAVE FROM THIS VANTAGE POINT, WE HAVE SEEN THE SCENE CHANGE A LITTLE BIT, BUT THAT HELICOPTER IS STILL HERE IN THE MIDDLE OF HIGHWAY 50. YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO SEE SOME OF THAT DEBRIS AND ALSO THAT MEDICAL EQUIPMENT THAT’S SURROUNDING IT. SO WE HAVE SEEN AT LEAST 15 INVESTIGATORS, OFFICERS TAKING PICTURES. THEY WERE SCANNING THE SCENE. WE SAW THEM JUST MOVE THE LIGHTS TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HELICOPTER. SO IT SEEMS LIKE THEY’RE FOCUSING THEIR INVESTIGATION NOW. ON THE OTHER SIDE. EARLIER TODAY THEY WERE ON THIS SIDE. WE CAN NOW SEE TRAFFIC STARTING TO FLOW. WE’VE SEEN HIGHWAY PATROL OFFICERS GUIDING THESE PEOPLE. YOU CAN SEE THEM DRIVING SLOWLY THERE ON THE SIDE OF THIS CRIME SCENE. SO THAT IS ACTUALLY BECAUSE THEY OPENED THE BARRIERS FROM THE FIX 50 PROJECT, AND THEY’RE ABLE TO LET THOSE VEHICLES THROUGH. AND YOU CAN IMAGINE THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE THAT WERE AT A STOP HERE WHEN THIS CRASH HAPPENED. THERE WAS ACTUALLY ANOTHER INCIDENT THAT CREATED A BACKUP. WE SPOKE TO A WITNESS WHO WAS WITH HIS WIFE WHEN THEY SAW THAT HELICOPTER COMING STRAIGHT AT THEM. TAKE A LISTEN. IT WAS VIOLENTLY SHAKING. THE HELICOPTER ITSELF. THE LANDING GEAR UNDERNEATH THE HELICOPTER ITSELF WAS SHAKING LIKE RATTLING IN THE AIR. SO I KNEW SOMETHING WAS OFF AS IT WAS APPROACHING VERY LOW, I WAS SCREAMING TO MY WIFE, I GO, THIS THING’S COMING DOWN, IT’S GOING DOWN, IT’S GOING DOWN, IT’S GOING DOWN. SURE ENOUGH, IT HIT HIGHWAY 50 AND AFTER THAT, AFTER THAT, WE SAW LOTS OF SMOKE. IT TOOK QUITE A WHILE FOR THAT ENGINE TO, LIKE, WIND DOWN OR EVENTUALLY JUST SHUT OFF. BUT IN THOSE 2 TO 3 MINUTES, IT WAS THERE WAS A LOT OF SMOKE THAT WAS ENTERING HIGHWAY 50. AND THAT PLUME OF SMOKE IS THE ONE THAT WE SAW IN PICTURES AND VIDEOS. BUT I WANT TO BRING YOU BACK OUT HERE LIVE QUICKLY, BECAUSE WE’RE JUST SEEING THAT TOW TRUCK ARRIVING HERE ON SCENE AS WE’RE LIVE. IT JUST PARKED HERE. WE IMAGINE THEY’RE ABOUT TO REMOVE THIS HELICOPTER. THERE’S A SECOND TOW TRUCK THAT I CAN SEE FROM THIS VANTAGE POINT HERE. CREWS ARE ABOUT TO GET OFF AND THEY’RE ABOUT TO START REMOVING THIS FROM THE MIDDLE OF HIGHWAY 50. THIS IS JUST HAPPENING AS WE’RE HERE LIVE. WE’RE SEEING THE OFFICERS NOW SURROUNDING IT. THEY’RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT EXACTLY HOW THEY’RE GOING TO DO THIS. BUT WHILE WE SEE WHAT THEY’RE GOING TO DO IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF MINUTES, I WANT YOU TO TAKE A LESSON FROM THIS BYSTANDER WHO SAYS SHE WAS IN HER CAR, STOPPED HERE IN THE MIDDLE OF HIGHWAY 50 WHEN AFTER THAT SMOKE CLEARED, THEY SAW THAT FIRST RESPONDERS NEEDED HELP GETTING SOMEONE WHO WAS PINNED IN THIS HELICOPTER OUT. JUST TAKE A LISTEN TO HER TESTIMONY. IT JUST PLUMMETED OUT OF THE SKY AND IT HIT HARD, OBVIOUSLY, BECAUSE IT WAS FALLING. AND THEN JUST INSTANTANEOUS BLACK SMOKE EVERYWHERE JUST ENGULFED THE WHOLE THING. AS SOON AS I SAW THAT EVERYBODY WAS MOVING, THE TRYING TO PUSH THE HELICOPTER OUT TO GET HELP, THE FIRST RESPONDERS GET TO THE, THE, THE PASSENGER, I JUST RAN OVER AND I GOT IN ONLINE IN, IN THE LINE OF PEOPLE AND WAS JUST HELP PUSHING IT AS MUCH AS I COULD. AND THEN AND THEN WE HELD IT FOR SEVERAL MINUTES SO THE FIRST RESPONDER COULD GET THE PERSON OUT. AND, YOU KNOW, SHE’S STILL TRYING TO PROCESS EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED. I ASKED HER, YOU KNOW, WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND WHEN YOU SEE THAT? SHE SAID, THE ONLY THING THAT WAS GOING THROUGH MY MIND WAS TO HELP. AND YOU CAN IMAGINE HOW HEAVY THIS HELICOPTER IS, SINCE THEY HAVE AT LEAST TWO TOW TRUCKS HERE ON SCENE. AND JUST IMAGINING THAT GROUP OF 15 PEOPLE LIFTING THAT HELICOPTER JUST TO HELP SOMEONE IS REALLY JUST INCREDIBLE TO HEAR. WE NOW KNOW THAT THREE PEOPLE ARE IN CRITICAL CONDITION, AND ONE OF THOSE WAS THE ONE THAT THEY HELPED SAVE. AND JUST BACK OUT HERE LIVE, WE CAN START SEEING THOSE PLASTIC BAGS THAT ARE COMING OUT. THEY’RE GOING TO START PICKING UP ALL OF THAT DEBRIS. SOME OF IT THAT MEDICAL EQUIPMENT THAT WE CAN IMAGINE WAS ON THIS HELICOPTER. WE SAW A LOT OF PAPERS. WE CAN SEE THERE’S SOME CREWS STARTING TO PUT THEM IN THOSE WHITE TRASH BAGS HERE. IT WILL PROBABLY TAKE A WHILE FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO REMOVE ALL OF THIS. WE SEE THAT DOOR FROM THE HELICOPTER CLOSER TO WHERE WE’RE STANDING. SO REMOVAL EFFORTS OF THIS HELICOPTER ARE ABOUT TO START HERE. WE DON’T KNOW HOW LONG THAT’S GOING TO TAKE, BUT THEY ARE LETTING TRAFFIC THROUGH HERE RIGHT NOW. BUT AFTER ALL, YOU KNOW, THERE’S STILL A LOT OF QUESTIONS EDIE GULSTAN DART ABOUT WHAT EXACTLY LED UP TO THIS HELICOPTER CRASHING HERE ON SCENE. BUT WHAT WE REALLY TAKE AWAY AS WELL IS JUST THE HEROISM OF THOSE 15 PEOPLE THAT JUST DECIDED TO MISS THE CHAOS, TO GET OFF AND HELP AND, YOU KNOW, GET THAT PERSON OUT. AND THEY TELL ME THAT REALLY ALL THEY’RE HOPING FOR TONIGHT IS THAT ALL THREE OF THE PEOPLE THAT WERE INSIDE OF THAT HELICOPTER WHEN IT CRASHED MAKE IT. LI