{"id":482058,"date":"2026-10-01T22:30:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T22:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/482058\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T22:30:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T22:30:07","slug":"family-identifies-woman-missing-after-medical-helicopter-crash-nbc-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/482058\/","title":{"rendered":"Family identifies woman missing after medical helicopter crash \u2013 NBC Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"

A woman who remained unaccounted for following a deadly medical helicopter crash<\/a> off Santa Catalina Island was being airlifted to the mainland after suffering an allergic reaction, according to her family.<\/p>\n

Family members identified the woman as 45-year-old Catalina Hernandez, of Avalon, who remained missing hours after the crash into the water Wednesday that killed two people and injured two others, including Hernandez’s son. Family members said the son, who was flying with his mother and the medical team, was being treated at a hospital.<\/p>\n

Hernandez, a mother of three children, was being airlifted after eating shrimp and suffering the allergic reaction, family members said. Hernandez moved to the United States from Mexico 26 years ago with a sister.<\/p>\n

Her son suffered broken bones, the family said. <\/p>\n

The crash involving a REACH Air Medical Services helicopter — identified by the FAA as a Eurocopter EC135 — with five people aboard was reported near the helipad at Pebbly Beach, about a mile from Avalon, just after 7:50 p.m., according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. It’s unclear what caused the helicopter to go down shortly after takeoff. <\/p>\n

Authorities said four people were pulled out from the scene and were taken to the hospital. LA County Fire said two died, while two others were stable. Details about the identities of the other people aboard the helicopter were not immediately available. <\/p>\n

Oceanside Fire Chief Jessamyn Specht said Thursday that the crew had long-standing ties to the department. The helicopter was based at the agency’s training center for more than a decade. <\/p>\n

“It’s a gut punch,” Specht said. “To hear it hit so close to home, it hurt.”<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles County Fire Department and U.S. Coast Guard teams continued the search Thursday. A Coast Guard submersible watercraft was joining the search to cover underwater areas.<\/p>\n

LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who represents Catalina Island, shared an X post following the crash.<\/p>\n

“I have been informed that a medevac helicopter leaving Catalina Island has crashed shortly after takeoff,” she said. “LA County Fire, Sheriff, Coast Guard, and Avalon Fire are on the scene. Search and rescue operations are underway and I am praying for everyone who was on board.”<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Global Medical Response, which owns the helicopter, told NBC Los Angeles it was aware of the incident and was coordinating with authorities and first responders.<\/p>\n

The National Transportation Safety Board was expected to lead the investigation.<\/p>\n

“We are aware of an incident involving a REACH Air Medical Services helicopter,” REACH said in a statement. “At this time, we are gathering information and coordinating with emergency responders and authorities. Our thoughts are with the families, loved ones and colleagues affected by this tragedy. We are focused on supporting our team and everyone impacted during this incredibly difficult time. Out of respect for those involved and the ongoing response, we are unable to share additional details at this time.”<\/p>\n

This is a developing story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A woman who remained unaccounted for following a deadly medical helicopter crash off Santa Catalina Island was being…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":482059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[32604,48,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":["post-482058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-catalina-island","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}