Albuquerque, New Mexico Mourns Loss of Medical Personnel After Medical Plane Crashes in California
Killed Sunday were pilot Karl A. Kolb, 56, co-pilot K. John Lamphere, 30, nurse Laura A. Womble, 47, and her husband, Donald, 45, a paramedic, all of Albuquerque, and paramedic Marco E. Villalobos, 33, of El Paso, Texas.
``Every single one of these employees was well-loved. They were exemplary employees,'' said Kevin Napp, program manager for Albuquerque-based Med Flight Air Ambulance Inc., which owned the airplane.
The crew was aboard an air ambulance Learjet bound for Albuquerque. The aircraft went down about 12:30 a.m. Sunday about two miles east of Brown Field in San Diego, said Larry Levy, Med Flight's chief executive officer and medical director.
Napp said the office was flooded with faxes and telephone calls from ambulance crews and medical providers from across the country.
``It's just been incredible,'' he said.
Fire stations in Albuquerque flew flags at half staff after hearing of the crash.
Don Womble had served as a paramedic with Albuquerque Ambulance for more than 10 years, Presbyterian Healthcare Services said in a statement Sunday night.
Womble also trained new paramedics at the University of New Mexico and parajumper rescue teams for the U.S. Air Force, said Todd Sandman, Presbyterian spokesman. Laura Womble was an emergency room nurse at Presbyterian Kaseman Hospital.
``That she and Don worked as air ambulance professionals in their time away from Presbyterian demonstrates their dedication and passion for improving the health of patients in need,'' the statement said.
Authorities found the bodies of three men near the wreckage on the southwestern face of the 3,566-foot high Otay Mountain, said Capt. Glenn Revell of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
The search for the two remaining bodies was suspended because of bad weather Sunday night, but were to be continued Monday morning, he said.
``It's the terrain that's hampering us,'' he said, adding that sheriff's deputies and U.S. Border Patrol agents were guarding the crash site to keep out hunters and hikers.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the crash, the company's first since it started operations in 1979, Levy said.
The crew was returning to Albuquerque after picking up a patient on a cruise ship off the coast of Mexico and dropping the person off in San Diego, Napp said.
The crew had received flight clearance from the Albuquerque communications center and was one minute into the flight when radio contact was lost, Levy said.
The airstrip just north of the border is used as a port of entry for private aircraft arriving in California from Mexico and by military and law enforcement aircraft.
Med Flight Air Ambulance suspended all operations Sunday following the crash ``to give the crews time to debrief and cope with the circumstances,'' Levy said.
The company held separate meetings for family members of the victims and other Med Flight crew members, Napp said.
``Of course the families are devastated,'' he said.
The company has about 100 employees at bases in Albuquerque, El Paso and Las Vegas, Nev.
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