MADISON, Wis. -- A medical helicopter from the University of Wisconsin-Madison was filling in for one from a La Crosse hospital last weekend when it crashed on its return flight to Madison, killing all three people aboard.

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UW-Madison spokesman Don Cady said the UW's leased helicopter was sent to Prairie du Chien about 8:30 p.m. Saturday to transport a patient to Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse because that hospital's helicopter was responding to another emergency.

After transporting the patient, the UW's helicopter refueled at the La Crosse airport about 10:30 p.m. and left for Madison but crashed on a bluff moments later. The wreckage was found Sunday morning in the Town of Onalaska.

All three people onboard the helicopter died in the crash. They were identified as Dr. Darren Bean, a physician, Mark Coyne, a registered nurse, and Steve Lipperer, the pilot. The three victims all lived in Madison, WISC-TV reported.

A funeral procession with a single emergency vehicle escorted the bodies of Bean, Coyne and Lipperer from La Crosse to Madison on Tuesday.

The procession made stops at funeral homes in Waunakee and Middleton on Tuesday. Those who came out said they are still coping with the loss.

"You take it one day at a time. We cry a lot, hug each other a lot, remember all the things they've done for us that have made us better people," said Assistant Chief Jim Keiken of the Madison Fire Department.

A coroner on Tuesday said that the patient transported by the UW-Madison Med Flight helicopter died after arriving at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center. Crawford County Coroner Joe Morovitz said that Mary Kricke, 86, died early Sunday after suffering bleeding in her brain.

Gundersen Lutheran's Med Link helicopter had responded Saturday evening to a three-vehicle traffic crash in Arcadia that killed an Arcadia couple and injured three others.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Keith Holloway said an investigator is studying wreckage recovered from the scene at the airport. He said that process can give clues about what caused the crash.

"We'll be laying out the aircraft, we'll be looking at the engine control systems, all the systems on the helicopter," said Tim Sorensen, NTSB investigator. "We'll document those. Depending on what we find there, there might be follow up testing. We'll be looking at records. We'll be looking at weather, all of the facets that may have affected the operation of the flight."

The NTSB said it hopes to release a preliminary report on the incident later this month.

The preliminary investigation found the Med Flight helicopter flew into the side of hill just minutes after takeoff after dropping a patient off in La Crosse.

The La Crosse Sheriff's Department, along with Onalaska and Shelby fire departments, found a portion of the helicopter's fuselage. The La Crosse Police Department said the location of the crash is near Kiel Coulee Road, which is on the bluff about five miles northeast of downtown La Crosse, according to WKBT-TV.

Company: Helicopter Didn't Have Night Goggles, Warning System

Officials with Denver-based Air Methods, the air ambulance company that leases the helicopters to UW Hospitals, said that that the helicopter that crashed wasn't equipped with night-vision goggles or a computerized voice system to warn of approaching terrain. The NTSB recommends both.

The NTSB recommended night-vision goggles and the warning system in a 2006 report that suggested many fatal EMS flights could be prevented. The report followed an increase in the crash rate of air EMS helicopters. In less than a decade, medical helicopter crashes have taken the lives of 75 staff and patients, WISC-TV reported.

Aaron Todd, senior vice president at Air Methods, said on Monday that they're installing the safety technology in its fleet, but hadn't yet gotten to the Madison helicopters. They said they have retrofitted more than one third of their aircraft

Officials said that it's had only one other fatal crash with the EC 135 Air Ambulance -- the kind of helicopter that UW Hospital Med Flight was using when it went down. In that incident, a helicopter crashed in Washington, D.C., in 2005, and killed two people. Officials said that the helicopter has been "a very good aircraft."

"It has been a very safe aircraft for us," said Mike Allen, vice president of air medical services for Air Methods.

Todd said there were several reasons it took time to add the new safety features to their fleet.

"The reason it takes so long (is) the availability of the equipment," Todd said. "To get them procured, to get all crews trained, it's a lengthy process, yet (it's) important to note that these aircraft were fully airworthy."

The company said that the military's use of night-vision goggles has made them slow to acquire and expensive. They estimate putting both technologies on board is about $100,000 a helicopter.

The terrain warning system was seen as so important that the NTSB report urged the Federal Aviation Administration to mandate it. "Merely encouraging the use of a technology is not sufficient," the board wrote in the report. "Therefore, the Safety Board believes the FAA should require EMS operators to install taws on their aircraft … and to provide adequate training."

That wasn't done and installation remains voluntary, WISC-TV reported.

Director: Med Flight Program Remains Grounded

Mark Hanson, the UW Med Flight program director still appeared visibly shaken from the crash during a news conference on Monday. He said the program would stay grounded until the crew was emotionally ready to take off again.

"It's kind of a surreal situation. But I've been overwhelmed by the amount of support that coworkers have shown me personally," Hanson said.

Hospital Holds Moment Of Silence

Hanson said that they were getting wonderful support from around the globe -- with many expressing a wish to donate.

They're directing people to page on their Web site and phone number, 608-265-6433, to handle such offers.

In honor of the victims, UW Hospitals held a moment of silence at 3:30 p.m. to reflect on the loss of three colleagues.

Hospital spokeswoman Toni Morrissey said that workers are considering how to permanently memorialize the three men.

Stay tuned to WISC-TV and Channel 3000 for continuing coverage.