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The Med Flight helicopter that crashed into a wooded hillside near La Crosse on Saturday night, killing its crew of three, did not have night-vision goggles and terrain warning technology as recommended.

But the head of the company that leased the chopper to UW Hospital said Monday the aircraft was safe.

"The fact that they did not have this equipment did not compromise their ability to perform these missions safely," said Aaron Todd, chief executive officer of Denver-based Air Methods.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, recommended the equipment in 2006.

Night-vision goggles could have helped pilots take action in 13 of the 55 medical helicopter crashes from 2002 to 2005, the NTSB said. Terrain warning systems, which can alert pilots 25 seconds before an impact, could have helped prevent 17 of the 55 crashes, the agency said.

Air Methods has installed the equipment in 39 percent of its 330 helicopters, at a cost of about $100,000 each, Todd said. The company is "well on its way to retrofitting its entire fleet" but has to wait behind the military and other customers for the equipment, he said.

Med Flight's remaining helicopter, grounded while the crash is being investigated, has not been upgraded. Med Flight intends to have it upgraded but not before it is put back in service, said Dr. Bruce Lindsay, the program's medical director.

While Med Flight is down, helicopter services from Milwaukee, Neenah and Rockford, Ill., have been transporting patients, said Med Flight Director Mark Hanson. It's not clear when Med Flight operations will resume, Hanson said.

"We'll return to service when we think the time is right, when we're emotionally ready," he said. "We've lost three brothers. ... It's very hard."

Killed in the crash were Dr. Darren Bean, 37, nurse Mark Coyne, 53, and pilot Steve Lipperer, 39.

They took off from the La Crosse airport to return to Madison about 10:30 p.m. Saturday and crashed four miles away. They had delivered a patient to Gundersen Lutheran Hospital in La Crosse and stopped at the airport to refuel.

Mike Allen, a senior vice president at Air Methods, said the helicopter that crashed had weather radar, a global positioning system and an altimeter, which measures altitude.

Allen said Lipperer would have relied on that equipment, aviation charts and personal experience to gauge whether a bluff was in front of him.

Lipperer had flown to La Crosse before and was familiar with the terrain, UW Hospital spokesman Aaron Conklin said.

Lipperer operated the aircraft visually Saturday night — rather than by instruments — as is frequently done in the dark and even in mountains when weather conditions allow, Allen said.

"The weather at the time of the departure from La Crosse was well above the visual flight rule minimums," he said.

The La Crosse airport's runway has 700-foot bluffs on either side, but takeoffs and landings aren't particularly difficult, said airport manager Dan Wruck.

"I don't believe La Crosse is any more dangerous than any other airport," he said.

Med Flight started leasing its two helicopters — both American Eurocopter EC135s — from Air Methods last year. Previously, Med Flight leased from CJ Systems, which was acquired by Air Methods.

Most or all of the dozen or so medical helicopters at Wisconsin's six medical helicopter programs are leased from Air Methods, said Dr. Ryan Wubben, associate medical director of Med Flight.

The last fatal crash involving an Air Methods helicopter was in December 2006 in California. Three people were killed. That aircraft was made by Bell. In January 2005, an Air Methods' EC135 crashed in Washington, D.C., killing two and injuring another.

There have been four other EC135 crashes, not including Saturday's, since 2003, the NTSB said.

Since 2002, the number of medical helicopters nationwide has doubled to about 800, said Blair Beggan, Association of Air Medical Services spokeswoman. The growth is propelled by an aging population and the closure of community hospital emergency rooms, among other factors, Beggan said.

The NTSB recommendations for night-vision goggles and terrain warning systems are among several advances the industry and regulators have proposed in recent years, Beggan said.

Others include fire retardant flight suits and training for pilots and medical crews to work together better, she said. The industry also has called for more automated weather stations at or near airports.

Last year, a Government Accountability Office report called for better record-keeping for air ambulance flights and more oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration.