MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A surgeon, nurse and pilot are dead after a
University of Wisconsin Hospital Med Flight helicopter crashed shortly after dropping off a patient in La Crosse.

The cause of last night's crash is being investigated today. But
UW Hospital chief operating officer Margaret Van Bree says it appears to have struck a hill or some trees.

She says the helicopter had just dropped off a patient at the Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center and was returning to Madison when the crash occurred.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory
says the crash occurred at 10:48 last night about three miles from
La Crosse. She says the National Transportation Safety Board is
leading the investigation, with the FAA assisting, but it may take
several weeks to more than a year to complete.

Med Flight director Mark Hanson says those killed were surgeon
Darren Bean, nurse Mark Coyne and pilot Steve Lipperer.

He says there were no concerns about the weather before the
copter took off. But he says rain and deteriorating conditions into
the night caused the search to be conducted on the ground only.