Firefighter Among 6 Killed in Arizona Chopper Crash

Editor's Note: The U.S. Fire Administration has listed the death of 26-year-old Michael MacDonald as an on duty death.

HELENA, Montana --

A soon-to-be father who loved being a firefighter was among six people killed when two medical helicopters collided in the U.S. state of Arizona.

Michael MacDonald, 26, was fighting wildfires at the Grand Canyon when he was bitten by an insect on Friday and taken to a nearby hospital, said Tyson Runningwolf, fire management officer for the Blackfeet Nation in Montana.

MacDonald suffered anaphylactic shock - a life-threatening allergic reaction - from the treatment he received for the bite, and was being transported to the Flagstaff Medical Center in Arizona when the helicopters collided Sunday afternoon.

One of the helicopters was operated by Air Methods from Englewood, Colorado, and the other was from Classic Helicopters of Woods Cross, Utah. Both aircraft were Bell 407 models.

Investigators plan to begin examining the remains of the helicopters on Tuesday.

It was the ninth accident this year involving emergency medical aircraft, bringing the number of deaths to 16, National Transportation Safety Board officials said Monday.

MacDonald was aboard the chopper coming from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The other chopper was coming from Winslow, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) away.

Three people died on each of the two Bell 407 helicopters: the pilot, the patient and a flight nurse on one chopper, the pilot, the patient and a paramedic on the other. A flight nurse on one of the helicopters was hospitalized in critical condition.

A surveillance camera from one of the hospital's parking lots captured the crash, but it will require technical work to remove the time stamp that blocks footage of the collision.

MacDonald was a "super nice kid" who loved being a firefighter, said his uncle, John Lee Hall, of Browning, Montana. He grew up on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, but had been living in Missoula and attending the University of Montana as a physical education major. He enjoyed playing basketball in his free time, Hall said.

"He was very happy-go-lucky and always had a smile on his face," Hall said. "He had friends all over. There was nobody that didn't like Mikey."

MacDonald and his girlfriend were expecting their first child next month. "The family is devastated," said Nora Kennedy, a family friend and distant relative.

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Funeral services for Michael MacDonald will be held Saturday at the Browning High School, 112 1st Ave. SW, Browning, MT July 5 at 2:00 pm.