Five deputies are hospitalized after a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department helicopter crashes into the San Gabriel Mountains while arriving at the scene of a car crash.
- A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department helicopter carrying five deputies and a doctor crashed in the San Gabriel Mountains on Saturday.
- One deputy was seriously injured, two received moderate injuries, and two more and a doctor received minor injuries.
- The accident occurred when the plane took off for the injured in a car accident.
- The helicopter fell just a few feet from a 200-foot drop.
A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department helicopter carrying five deputies and one doctor crashed into the San Gabriel Mountains as they responded to a car accident on Saturday.
Los Angeles Fire Department officials said one of the five police officers was seriously injured, two received moderate injuries, and the remaining two received minor injuries as all five were taken to a local trauma center. A doctor on board, identified as a UCLA doctor, also suffered only minor injuries.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva told the LA Times that all five deputies “are in stable condition, some more traumatized than others, but grateful to be alive.”
The crash occurred around 4:30 pm PST while an Air Rescue 5 helicopter was on its way to help firefighters retrieve a car crash victim, and officials received a call about the downed plane at 4:58 pm near Highway 39.
The helicopter landed a few feet from a 200-foot cliff in the mountains, which Villanueva said was “nothing short of a miracle.”
The National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation into the crash.
A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department helicopter carrying five deputies and a doctor crashed near the San Gabriel Dam on Friday.
As a result of the accident, one deputy was seriously injured, two received moderate injuries, and the other two and the doctor received minor injuries.
The helicopter landed a few feet from a 200-foot cliff in the mountains, which Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said was “nothing short of a miracle.”
The department has not yet named the names of the deputies and doctors injured in the accident, and also did not say what happened to the victim of a car accident, to whose aid a helicopter flew.
The downed helicopter is currently lying on its side in the Azusa Canyon near the San Gabriel Dam.
Villanueva told the LA Times that the department’s helicopter crew “saved thousands of lives over the years” by making 500 to 700 flights a year through “narrow canyons” and “difficult topography.”
The downed helicopter was one of three helicopters owned by the Sheriff’s Department, which said the absence of a third helicopter could hinder future rescue missions.
A helicopter carrying deputies and a doctor were heading for a car crash victim near Highway 39 when they attempted to land the helicopter.
The plane crash is currently under investigation. The first rescuers were already in the area when they arrived to help the victims of the accident.
The downed helicopter was one of three helicopters owned by the Sheriff’s Department.
The crash comes a month after a Hunting Beach Police Department helicopter crashed in Newport Beach, south of Los Angeles, killing 44-year-old Officer Nicholas Vella, a 14-year police veteran, and injuring another one pilot.
According to the Newport Beach Fire Department, this accident happened on February 19 around 6:30 pm.
The helicopter was visible between Lido Island and the Balboa Peninsula and was one of three helicopters operating outside the HBPD, all of which are turbine powered.
Moments after the helicopter crashed into the water, people rushed to the rescue to save the passengers.
Although the plane crashed close to the coastline, it is believed that several minutes elapsed before rescuers were able to reach the two stranded passengers in the helicopter.