WATCH | Medical helicopter crashes into highway in California, injuring three

Three people were critically injured after a medical helicopter crashed on a busy Sacramento highway in California, on Monday evening.

The injured were on board the helicopter before it crashed on the eastbound Highway 5 near 59th Street around 7 pm, the Sacramento Fire Capt. Justin Sylvia said while speaking to CNN.

Communters driving on the lane captured the dramatic footage of smoke rising from the helicopter crash while in their vehicles.

The chopper A4E489 was operated by Reach Air Medical Services and had a pilot, nurse, and paramedic on board. The three victims, two women and a man were taken to local hospitals. 

One passenger was pinned down by the chopper, and civilians lifted the aircraft to free them according to Sylvia. Many of the commuters got off their vehicles to rescue the person trapped under the helicopter. There were no patients on board the air ambulance.

Sylvia said that "all three victims were transporterd within 20 minutes of arriving on scene, which is remarkable. Those stats are just not seen." 

The red chopper came down on a vehicle on the the highway and landed upside down. Officials said that the air ambulance went down across multiple lanes and created a large debris field.

The highway was later reopened by moving cement blocks to allow traffic to go through.

The helicopter had taken off from the University of California Davis Medical Centre in Sacramento and was heading north moments before the crash.