A Beechcraft King Air E90 aircraft operated by Southwest Medevac crashed shortly after take-off from Ruidoso, New Mexico on August 5, 2007. All five people on board were killed, and the aircraft was destroyed. The cause of the crash is unknown at this time.A Houston Chronicle article about the medevac accident reports:
The plane arrived at the Sierra Blanca Regional Airport near Ruidoso about 8:30 p.m. Sunday after a short flight from Roswell, according to FlightAware.com, a flight-tracking Web site. Earlier in the day, the plane had flown roundtrip between Roswell and Lubbock, Texas.A memorial page on the Southwest Medevac website identifies the pilot of the aircraft as Ricky Byers, 56, of Dimmitt, Texas. The two other crew members were nurse Brian Miller, 44, of Roswell, NM, and paramedic Deanna Palmer, 40, of Prescott Valley, AZ.
The plane left the airport later on a flight to University of New Mexico Hospital, and crashed almost immediately in Devil's Canyon in the Lincoln National Forest, said Peter Olson, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.
The search began early Monday, and the plane was spotted about 5:15 a.m., Olson said,
New Mexico National Guard and state police helicopters helped locate the wreckage.
The two passengers, who also perished, were the patient, 15-month-old Lilly Smith, and her mother Tracy Smith.
Condolences to the families of the crew and passengers who were lost in this accident.
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