LINCOLN — LINCOLN — Brandi Lindstrom lives in Lincoln and was awake with friends when a helicopter suddenly crashed in the Mid-Town Plaza parking lot right on Main Street just after 1 a.m. on Tuesday, August 26, 2025.
“It’s literally like in the movies where it’s like slow motion, things flying past you, that was what it was like,” Lindstrom said.
Evan Charney reports from Lincoln - watch:
Debris was scattered all across the parking lot, from bent metal pieces to shattered glass. She says she could tell there was a problem even before the crash.
“It was like right above the trees, you could tell it was gonna be a really hard landing,” Lindstrom said. The sign doesn’t have any lights or really anything to it to begin with; it was just an empty sign, so it would’ve been hard to see.”
It was hard to see because it was just after one in the morning, with the only lights visible being from emergency response vehicles blocking off the road.
“The more we watched, the lower they were getting,” said Lindstrom. "It sounded a little funny, and the next thing you know, they hit the pole and the helicopter crashed.”
When the helicopter crashed, it was in the process of landing to pick up a patient, as it was a Life Flight chopper coming in from Missoula.
The Life Flight Network said in a social media post: "Our Missoula-based aircraft and crew (LF 88) were involved in an accident in Lincoln, MT. There was no patient on board, and our team reported no injuries. We are deeply grateful that everyone is safe and able to return home to their families. At this time, our focus is on supporting the well-being of our team. We will provide further updates as more information becomes available."
Lindstrom and her friends could only watch as the chopper hit the ground.
As soon as the helicopter hit, Lindstrom sprang into action.
“I told my friends to run, but then I ran up here to help try to get them out of the helicopter,” Lindstrom said. "There was fuel leaking.”
Fuel soaked the ground beneath the shattered cab. Lindstrom said thankfully, emergency crews were quick to respond, and the pilot had already been pulled out, but there were two other people inside.
“It was just me and then the one officer, at the time, he already had the pilot out, and then we were all getting the other door open to get the other two out.”
Lindstrom says she was so thankful everyone walked away with no injuries.
The cause of the crash has not yet been determined; the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will conduct an investigation.
