The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the crash of a television news helicopter that killed three people Tuesday evening in Los Angeles.
The helicopter, a Eurocopter AS 350 B2, operated by Angel City Air for NBC4 Los Angeles and Telemundo 52, crashed in the Chatsworth area while crews were covering a separate fatal collision involving a Metro bus and an SUV. The aircraft caught fire after impacting an industrial area, according to authorities.
Two people aboard the helicopter were killed. NBC identified them as aerial journalist Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw, both Angel City Air employees. A third person on the ground also died. Two additional people were hospitalized following the crash.
More than 70 firefighters responded to the helicopter crash and extinguished the resulting fire, which damaged several vehicles and storage containers near the crash site. The cause of the accident has not been determined. The NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating.
Out of respect for the dead, their families and anyone else effected, I will thank all the armchair investigators in advance for keeping speculation about this to themselves.
And keep your politics to yourself.
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I echo your sentiments but I came here in hopes of seeing some clear-headed commentary by experienced helo pilots and mechanics.
Respect for the dead? Really? The one good thing these forums do is cause pilots to re-examine their procedures and techniques. Nothing wrong with Monday morning quarterbacking. As wrong as they usually are they cause us to pause for a second and think about things. That in itself has probably saved many lives.
A single-engined helicopter over dense city?
Helicopters require altitude or speed to be able to autorotate to a landing when engine resigns.
Then where can they land? Media report the helicopter hit the ground between buildings.
Kubin and zumajim:
Need facts.
NTSB should provide some soon, event not in its database today.
Media can be confused, supposed aviaton experts are often wrong.
Reported not necessarily verified:
Twin engine version is AS355, in France they are called Squirrel (Écureuil in French, and Écureuil 2), marketed as Astar and Twinstar, late production called H125.
Powered by either Lycoming or Turbomeca engine, some of the latter have FADEC, but there are conversions such as by Soloy.
Various suffixes on model name for improvements and different engines.
Some made in US, some of the latest ones also made in India.
Many used by law enforcement agencies.