A medevac helicopter on Monday night crashed onto the freeway lanes of Highway 50 in East Sacramento, leaving three people with critical injuries while blocking eastbound traffic through the night.
Just before 7:10 p.m., the helicopter, seconds after departing UC Davis Medical Center, fell from the sky east of the hospital campus, onto the eastbound lanes just west of 59th Street.
The location of the crash lies about a mile west of the Sacramento State campus, not far from Hornet Stadium. The American River lies about a mile east of that stretch of highway, just beyond the college campus.
Among the people who were involved in the crash was Susan Smith, according to Kevin Luntey, her brother-in-law. Smith, a 67-year-old nurse from the Redding area, was one of three people hospitalized fr