Three people are dead after a University of Wisconsin Med Flight helicopter crashed shortly after taking off last night from La Crosse.

Aaron Conklin says a surgeon, a nurse and the pilot were killed in the crash, which took place as the helicopter was returning to Madison from the Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center.

UW Hospital chief operating officer Margaret Van Bree says those killed in the crash were surgeon Darren Bean, nurse Mark Coyne and pilot Steve Lipperer.

She says the helicopter left Madison around 8:30 Saturday night to drop off a patient at the La Crosse hospital and departed the airport there at about 10:30.

Van Bree says there was no further communication with the crew.

She says the helicopter was found about four miles from the airport at about 8:40 Sunday morning.

Van Bree says preliminary reports indicate the helicopter may have struck a hill or some trees but the exact cause is not yet known.

Here are the profiles of the three men killed in the crash:

Most of the information was provided by the University of Wisconsin.

Darren Bean

Darren Bean, 37, became a Med Flight physician for the hospital system in 2002 after completing residency training at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C. He received his medical degree from the University of Vermont College of Medicine in 1999.

Bean also was the emergency department director of ultrasound, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, a member of the hospital's multidisciplinary trauma committee and an executive board member of the Regional Trauma Advisory Committee.

He was married to Dr. Stacey Bean, an emergency physician at St. Mary's Hospital. The couple has two young children.

Mark Coyne

Mark Coyne, 53, of Waunakee, was a 22-year veteran of the Med Flight system and had worked for the hospital since 1981. He also was an emergency medical technician-paramedic.

He leaves behind a wife, Anne. 

Steve Lipperer
Steve Lipperer, 39, of Waunakee, worked for Air Methods and was a contract employee for the hospital system since 2000. He was married to Dr. Desiree La Charite, a Med Flight doctor. The couple had no children, said a family friend, Heather Grant.

His father, Raymond Lipperer of Johnson Creek, said his son had always wanted to fly.

Lipperer's total flight time was over 4,300 hours. Besides the United States, his training and experience has taken him to the Virgin Island, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Belize, New Zealand, Marshall Islands, Micronesian Islands, Philippines, and Papua New Guinea. 

He also worked on a part-time, as needed basis for Chemair Helicopters.