By Rosalio Ahumada

The Sacramento Bee

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Part of a helicopter rotor ended up lodged into the roof of a residential garage, and a paramedic aboard called in a mayday after spotting the aircraft had lost power shortly moments before the helicopter crashed on Highway 50 in Sacramento last month.

Those were some of the details included in a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report on the Oct. 6 helicopter crash that seriously injured flight nurse Susan Smith, pilot Chad Millward and paramedic Margaret “DeDe” Davis , shortly after the aircraft took off from UC Davis Medical Center.

Smith, 67, of Palo Cedro near Redding, died of her injuries four days later. She was a veteran of 50 years in nursing, the last 21 years at Reach Air Medical Services. Mil

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