The Bayflite Crash
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Alicia Betita-Collins, flight nurse

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Erik Hangartner, paramedic


[Photo: Larry McGevna, St. Petersburg Fire Dept.]
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Mark Wallace, pilot
St. Petersburg firefighters and other rescue personnel work at the wreckage of a Bayflite helicopter that crashed Tuesday in mangroves on Weedon Island at the edge of Tampa Bay in northeast St. Petersburg. All three aboard -- the pilot, a nurse and a paramedic were killed.

The crash site borders airspace controlled by MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa International Airport, Albert Whitted Airport and St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.

[Times photo: Bill Serne]

Witnesses say they saw no obvious signs of trouble with the helicopter before it hit this 649-foot tower head-on.

[Times photo: Dirk Shadd]

Emergency vehicles surround the site along San Martin Boulevard northeast of incorporated St. Petersburg.

[Times photo: Dirk Shadd]

[Times photo: Dirk Shadd]

St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue worker E. Rodriguez shakes the water out of his boots while sitting on the back bumper of a Haz Mat truck.

sue brody
Sue Brody, president and CEO of Bayfront-St. Anthony's Health Care, was shaken by the crash.

[Times photo: Bill Serne]

helicopter lifts
A Coast Guard helicopter lifts one of the three bodies from mangroves on Weedon Island on Tuesday.

[Times photo: Boysell Hosey]

search in marsh
St. Petersburg firefighters and other rescue personnel work at the wreckage of a Bayflite helicopter that crashed Tuesday in mangroves on Weedon Island at the edge of Tampa Bay in northeast St. Petersburg.

[Times photo: Boysell Hosey]

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