Three people died when a University of Wisconsin Hospital Med Flight helicopter crashed after taking off Saturday night from La Crosse, a hospital spokesman said Sunday.

A surgeon, a nurse and the pilot were killed in the crash, which took place as the helicopter was returning to Madison from the Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center, said UW Hospital spokesman Aaron Conklin.

Allan Tiedt, of the La Crosse County Emergency Dispatch Center, said the wreckage was found in the town of Onalaska.

Killed in the crash were surgeon Darren Bean, nurse Mark Coyne and pilot Steve Lipperer, said UW Hospital chief operating officer Margaret Van Bree.

The helicopter left Madison at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday night to drop off a patient at the La Crosse hospital and departed the airport there at about 10:30 p.m., Van Bree said.

"No further communication was received from the crew," she said.

The helicopter was found about four miles from the airport at about 8:40 a.m. Sunday, Van Bree said.

The aircraft was an American Eurocopter EC13 leased from Air Methods within the past year, she said.

Preliminary reports indicate the helicopter may have struck a hill or some trees, but the exact cause is not yet known, Van Bree said.

There is one other Med Flight helicopter that serves the university hospital system, and it has been grounded, Conklin said.

University of Wisconsin Hospital says the surgeon killed in the crash of the medical helicopter near La Crosse became a Med Flight physician for the hospital system in 2002.

It says Darren Bean received his medical degree from the University of Vermont College of Medicine in 1999, and completed residency training at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Bean also was the emergency department director of ultrasound, and an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

Nurse Mark Coyne was a 22-year veteran of the Med Flight system and had worked for the hospital since 1981. He also was an emergency medical technician-paramedic.

Pilot Steve Lipperer worked for Air Methods and was a contract employee for the hospital system.

All three lived in Madison.

RN Mark Coyne

Dr Darren Bean