A medical helicopter is shown after it crashed on Highway 50 Monday, Oct. 6, 2025, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)
California Fire Captain Turns Highway Chaos Into Heroic Rescue After Helicopter Crash
Just minutes after a medical helicopter plunged onto a busy California highway, Sacramento Fire Capt. Peter Vandersluis found himself commanding an unlikely rescue team — a group of motorists who had leapt from their cars to help save lives.
At about 7 p.m. Monday, the Airbus EC-130 T2 air ambulance crashed on State Route 50, just east of downtown Sacramento, after reporting an “in-air emergency.” The aircraft had just departed a hospital after dropping off a patient when it suddenly lost control and came down in the center of the highway.
Inside were a paramedic, a flight nurse, and the pilot — all critically injured.
When Vandersluis arrived, he quickly realized help from additional rescue units would take precious minutes they didn’t have. Then he heard it — a faint groan from beneath the twisted wreckage.
“Once I heard the woman groan, I made the decision to yell out and get the bystanders to help lift the helicopter off her,” Vandersluis told the Associated Press.
Without hesitation, about 15 drivers rushed to his side.
“When I shouted ‘lift,’ they lifted. When I said ‘hold,’ they held,” he said. “It was pure instinct — people just stepped up.”
The group raised the helicopter in about 30 seconds while a firefighter slid beneath the aircraft, cut the paramedic’s seat belt, and pulled her free. Within a minute, she was safely out, and the group gently lowered the helicopter back to the ground.
Vandersluis, a 20-year firefighting veteran, said he had never before directed civilians in a rescue — but his training kicked in. “My job is to lead,” he said. “That day, I just had more people to lead than usual.”
Nearby motorist Aimee Braddock was among the volunteers. “I saw everyone pushing and just ran over,” she told KCRA-TV. “We held the helicopter for what felt like forever so they could get her out.”
Miraculously, no motorists were injured, despite the helicopter crashing in the middle of traffic.
“It’s mind-blowing,” said Capt. Justin Sylvia of the Sacramento Fire Department. “The helicopter came down fast, but traffic had already slowed. That probably saved lives.”
Witnesses initially feared the helicopter was on fire, but officials confirmed the white smoke came from an automatic fire suppression system — not flames.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are now investigating the cause of the crash.
The helicopter belonged to REACH Air Medical Services, which said in a statement it was focused on supporting the injured crew and their families.
Sacramento City Councilwoman Lisa Kaplan, who was nearby during the crash, described the aftermath as “somber and humbling.”
“It makes you realize how much we depend on these pilots and medical teams,” she said. “They risk their lives to save others — and today, strangers risked theirs to save them.”
