OWENTON, Ky. — Investigators on Tuesday continued to process the heavily charred wreckage of an Air Evac Lifeteam helicopter crash along KY Route 22 in Owenton Monday afternoon.
Flight nurse Bethany Aicken, paramedic James Welsh and pilot Gale Alleman were all pronounced dead after a preliminary investigation found the Bell 206 helicopter crashed to the ground after hitting a guy wire stabilizing a communications tower, according to the FAA.
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Alleman's friend Mick McLane said he'd known him for nearly a decade.
"We call him Butch," McLane said.
McLane said his friend, a long-time pilot for both the US Army and DHL, was quick-witted, kind and full of humor.
"I was in shock, like any major thing happens in life comes unexpected," he said.
Alleman's girlfriend Jan Klarquist said she wanted everyone to know he was a great man, and that she'd lost the love of her life.
Another friend, Gary Foster, said Alleman was at home in the sky.
"He loved it," Foster said. "That was his passion for life. His passion was to go in and help others that were in danger."
Everyone couldn't believe that the pilot with 17,000 hours of flight under his belt would have missed the inch-and-a-half thick wires that may have torn through his rotor.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Brian Rayner said the team had been circling over a landing zone when the helicopter made contact with the "guy wires." Rayner said the initial stages of the investigation involved collecting data, observations, witness statements and more.
"We're just gathering facts," he said. "We're not trying to attach meaning to what we gather."
Connecting the dots and developing a narrative or cause of the crash would take time, according to the NTSB.
Rayner said a recovery team will be on scene beginning Wednesday to move the helicopter from the base of the tower and the rotor base and blades from where they landed roughly 400 feet away.
He said the process of moving the debris would take days.
A full report from the NTSB wouldn't be expected for a year or more.
Foster said he was waiting for answers, but he said he had already learned a lesson from his friend's death.
"Love your family. Love your friends. You never know when the next day is going to happen or when God is going to take you so enjoy life and live life," said Foster.
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