June 3, 2010 - A CareFlite Bell 222 medical helicopter departed from Grand Prairie Municipal Airport, Grand Prairie, Texas on Wednesday about 2:15 PM with its pilot and a mechanic for a post maintenance flight test when the Bell helicopter main rotor separated from the helicopter before the crash.

It has not been officially confirmed however it appears that the main rotor became detached from the helicopter while in flight and cut off the tail section of the helicopter before it crashed. It has been reported the helicopter was in maintenance on its main rotor.

The Bell 222 went down under clear shies near Midlothian about 25 miles southwest of Dallas near Highway 67 and Wyatt Road in a fenced in field. The helicopter burst into flames and was completely destroyed. Fire department personnel had to cut through the fence to get to the helicopter. “We immediately started to extinguish the fire, there were no survivors,” Deputy Fire Chief Dale McCaskill.

CareFlite is a Texas, nonprofit corporation governed by a Board of Directors with representatives from Texas Health Resources Methodist Health System, Baylor Health Care System, Parkland Health and Hospital System, and the JPS Health Network.