Airbus Eurocopter crash near Catalina Island, California, United States

A Mercy Air Eurocopter medical helicopter operated by Air Methods nearly crashed off Catalina Island on September 30, briefly touching the water after descending to 75 feet during night flight conditions with poor visibility, before the pilot recovered control and continued to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. The incident occurred approximately one minute before a separate fatal REACH Air Medical Services Eurocopter crash from the same Pebbly Beach helipad that killed three people, and is being investigated by the FAA and NTSB.