A helicopter spun out of control and crashed into a pedestrian bridge along Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Saturday afternoon, horrifying nearby beachgoers and sending five people to the hospital.
Related Articles
Medical chopper crashes on Sacramento freeway, injuring three
Two Delta Air Lines jets damaged in ‘low-speed collision’ on New York airport taxiway, injuring 1
Plane crashes near California airport and sparks fire
Grammy-winning songwriter Brett James, who co-wrote ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel,’ dies in plane crash
California man pleads guilty to landing plane on restricted Navy island — twice
The crash was reported just after 2 p.m. Oct. 11 across the street from the oceanfront Hyatt resort, when the chopper began to spiral and then slammed into a stairwell leading to a bridge that connects a beachfront parking lot to the hotel.
A Cars ‘N Copters on the Coast event was scheduled for the area on Sunday, and a “helicopter landing party” was underway on Saturday.
Two people in the helicopter and three people on the street – including, reportedly, a child – were transported to a hospital.
Video footage obtained by news freelancer OnScene.TV, below, shows the helicopter descending toward the street when it suddenly began spinning and then hit the stairwell to the bridge crossing PCH.
Part of the helicopter broke off before the crash. People watching and filming the chopper from the sand as it approached were astonished, some videos show, repeatedly hollering, “Oh my God,” after it began to spiral and then hit the cement.
On Saturday evening, Jerry Miller of Redlands confirmed in a telephone call that his son-in-law Eric Nixon was piloting the helicopter when it crashed.
“He’s in the hospital with some broken ribs, crushed vertebrae and several bruises,” said Miller, adding, “But I’m sorry, we have some things going on” before terminating the call.
Earlier, Rancho Cucamonga resident Jackson Etchert was in Huntington Beach for the Cars ‘N Copters event. He was standing on the bridge, about 100 feet away, he said, when the crash occurred.
“I noticed when the second one came, it was spinning weird,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Hmm, I wonder if it’s doing a trick.’ Then, I saw it spinning even faster, and I’m like, ‘Nope, that thing is crashing.’ ”
As he observed, “First the tail rotor snapped. Next thing I know I see something looked like it hit the main rotor blade.”
He shared a video with a closer look at the crash:
“At this time, the two people who were in the helicopter have been safely pulled from the wreckage, and three people on the street have sustained injuries,” Huntington Beach Police Department spokesperson Corbin Carson said in mid-afternoon. “All five individuals are being transported to the hospital for treatment.”
The helicopter, its body on the stairwell bannister, was wedged between the trees and the lampposts bracketing the entrance to the stairs. Two broken palm trees rested on the wreckage.
Aviation photographer and videographer Roy Rausch was recording the landing party when the crash occurred. It was the 10th helicopter planning to land, he said.
“They had just done a couple (of) flybys and circled back around,” Rausch said. “It was just above the landing spot.”
He said the helicopter was no more than a couple of hundred feet above the spot when it began to spiral.
At first, he, too, thought the chopper could have been doing a trick. Three Gazelle helicopters had landed in the parking lot sideways, he said.
“It had already done just an impressive fly-by by the crowd up at the Hilton there,” Rausch said. “It was the closest I’ve ever seen a helicopter fly to that crowd. So it was really kind of performing for the crowd.”
Two Hazmat teams were en route to the scene, one from Huntington Beach and the other from Anaheim Fire and Rescue.
Video shows this helicopter spinning out of control before it crashed in Huntington Beach on Saturday. (Photo by OnScene.TV)
PCH was closed between Huntington Street and Beach Boulevard. Authorities asked the public to avoid the area and use alternate routes for the next several hours.
The skies in downtown Huntington Beach were clear in the afternoon, with the temperature around 75 degrees and southwest winds of between five and 10 mph.
“I’m not seeing a single cloud near the area. The only thing going on are those southwest winds,” said Lauren Villafane, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration could not immediately be reached. “I am not in the office due to a lapse in funding,” public information officer Ian Gregor said in an email response. Corbin said the FAA would be on scene, though.
Teri Thornhill, a spokesperson for Mesa, AZ.-based MD Helicopters, was not immediately available for comment. MD Helicopters was hosting the helicopter landing party associated with the event.
An investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board would also be heading to the scene, Huntington Beach Fire Battalion Chief Matt Kubota said late Saturday afternoon.
Kubota confirmed that the helicopter was flying in for the Cars ‘N Copters event, but said he did not have details about the people injured, including their ages, genders or any updates on their conditions.
The helicopter had the name Nixon on it, however, and a post on the Nixon Helicopters Instagram site on Saturday afternoon announced, “Pilot and passengers are safe!”
“Praise God!” one commenter wrote. “Praying for Uncle Eric and his passenger.”
On Saturday evening, Corbin said the Cars ‘N Copters event will still take place on Sunday.