Chad Hammond, Stasi Cernadas, Jason Snipes, and Zach Strickland killed when medical helicopter crashes near Enterprise, Alabama

Four people were killed when a medical helicopter crashed early Saturday morning in Coffee County, according to reports.

WTVY is reporting three crew members and a patient died in the crash.

WTVY's Mike Gurspan reports three of the fatalities are crew members and the fourth is a patient being airlifted to a hospital following a motor vehicle collision.

The helicopter is operated by Haynes, a prominent south Alabama ambulance company.

According to reports, the EMA has confirmed the  victims as Chad Hammond, pilot; Stacey Cernadas, flight nurse; Jason Snipes, flight medic; and Zach Strickland, patient.

James Brown, deputy director of the Coffee County Emergency Management Agency, said the helicopter was reported missing at 12:17 a.m. “After an extensive search, the aircraft was discovered at 7:02 this morning.”

 Personnel from the National Transportation Safety Board are en route to complete the accident investigation.

Mr Strickland was being airlifted after breaking his leg and getting knocked unconscious in a car accident.

The air crash is estimated to have happened within three minutes of take-off from the scene of the collision on Coffee County road 606.

"The FAA inspector showed up on scene and started his part of the investigation. The NTSB investigators arrived in the area Saturday night,” said Larry Walker, director of the Coffee County Emergency Management Agency.

"The weather was described as inclement, foggy," said Peter Knudson, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board. "We will be getting more specifics about visibility and the weather conditions thehelicopter would have been encountering."

Snipes graduated from Jemison High School in 1999. Friday the school hosted a service to remember his life. His friends said he wanted to be a flight paramedic since he was a child. It all started when he was seven years old and his brother died. Snipes made a vow then, if he couldn't save his brother's life he would spend the rest of his life saving others. He died doing just that.

Federal investigators say a medical helicopter was not certified for flying in low-visibility conditions when it crashed last month with a patient in southeast Alabama, killing all four aboard.

The $5 million will be paid to Cernadas's parents, Deborah Bedford and Javier Cernadas by helicopter operator Metro Aviation Inc. of Shreveport, Louisiana.