GLOBE, AZ -- Two people remained hospitalized with minor injuries Thursday after a medical helicopter on a training flight crashed on the San Carlos Indian Reservation Wednesday night.
Warrent Youngman, Assistant Special Agent with the U.S. Dept. of Indian Affairs, said the Native Air helicopter crashed around 7:30 p.m. as it was coming in for a landing on the reservation.
The San Carlos Indian Reservation is across the street from the Apache Gold Casino, about five to seven miles east of Globe.
FAA spokesperson Ian Gregor said the flight originated from the Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa.
According to Gregor, the helicopter was not scheduled to pick up a patient on the reservation, despite previous reports.
Officials with Native Air's parent company, Ominiflight Helicopters, said Thursday that the chopper was not an air ambulance and only used for pilot training.
The San Carlos Police Department and U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs responded to the scene.
The crash that caused extensive damage to the aircraft will be investigated by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.
