Medical Helicopter crashes

Reno, NV -- The pilot of a medical helicopter that crashed early Saturday issued a mayday alert shortly before the craft went down near the Nevada-California line, killing all three on board, investigators said.

Investigators are still trying to determine why the Mountain Lifeflight helicopter crashed around 2 a.m. Saturday, about a half mile west of U.S. 395 north of Hallelujah Junction.

The helicopter had dropped a patient off at Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno and was returning to Susanville when it crashed in Lassen County about 30 miles northwest of Reno.

Mountain Lifeflight issued a statement Saturday afternoon identifying the pilot as James Bradshaw, 39, the flight nurse as Clinton Reger, 40, and Christopher Ritz, 37, a paramedic.

The helicopter was destroyed by the crash impact and fire.

The pilot was a 1988 graduate of Reno High School and had ties to Hawaii, family said Saturday. The crew members were both from Susanville, the Record Searchlight newspaper of Redding, Calif. reported Saturday night.

A witness driving on a nearby road saw the helicopter flying normally before it dropped rapidly, then exploded in a fireball when it hit the ground, the Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor reported.

Gregor said the pilot was not communicating with air-traffic controllers at the time of the accident. Investigators from the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board spent Saturday examining the wreckage as they searched for clues.

The pilot's mother, Ann Bradshaw of Carson City, said he talked to her about the helicopter, an Aerospatiale AS350 version, last week.

"He sat in a chair Thursday afternoon and told me he was flying an old piece of equipment," she said.

As a boy, James Bradshaw lived in Morgan Hill, Calif., but moved to Reno with his family when he was in high school.

Caralee Hall, Bradshaw's 25-year-old sister from Silver Spring, Md., said that Bradshaw was a pilot more than 10 years. He was laid off six months ago from a job giving helicopter tours in Kauai, Hawaii, she said.

"He said he thought (this) was more rewarding than giving tours, and he thought it was much more interesting work," Hall said.

She said that everyone referred to him as "Browski."

"I think it's part of his Hawaii persona," she said. "He's always been a free spirit."

Family members said that at one time or another, Bradshaw also had piloted tours in the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and Alaska and worked for a news station in San Francisco.

"What 5-year-old boy's dream isn't to fly?" Hall asked.

After graduating from Reno High School, Bradshaw attended Brigham Young University and graduated with a business degree, according to Anne Bradshaw.

He then went to Bordeaux, France, for three years. He later moved to San Francisco and did roofing and drove a taxi to pay for flying lessons.

Ultimately, Bradshaw attended a 9-month flight program in Alaska, Hall said.

Bradshaw was the oldest of nine siblings, family members said. The youngest lives in Carson City with his parents, Ann and Jim Bradshaw, according to the family.

"(Bradshaw) was a very free spirit and was never in a mood when he wasn't joking," Hall said. "He was a wonderful older brother."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.