A Los Angeles County rescue helicopter crashed off a street in the Angeles National Forest on Saturday, injuring all six folks onboard, officers stated.
Five of the injured have been sheriff’s deputies of various rank who have been en path to a name, Deputy T. Koerner of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department stated. A UCLA doctor on a ride-along was additionally injured, Sheriff Alex Villanueva stated Saturday evening.
Most of the folks on board have been seen in NBC Los Angeles footage strolling to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center after being take there by one other helicopter. The sheriff stated accidents embody damaged ribs and bone fractures.
The hospital’s medical director, Dr. James Kim, stated all of the sufferers had been stabilized.
Air Rescue 5, listed by the division and numerous plane websites as a AS332 Super Puma, was one in all three helicopters the division makes use of for rescues, the sheriff stated.
The crew was on the way in which to select up a affected person injured in a automobile crash when one thing abruptly occurred and the pilot set the helicopter down in what Villanueva described as a tough touchdown and rollover.
Footage of the mangled helicopter with sheriff’s markings and colours on State Route 39 above the town of Azusa was broadcast by NBC Los Angeles.
Koerner stated the crash, on a turnout that abuts a deadly downslope, was reported at 4:58 p.m. at mile marker 21.70, in a distant a part of the route that’s a part of the Angeles National Forest.
Villanueva described the crash website as being just some toes from a 200-foot drop.
The three rescue helicopters run by the division are concerned in greater than 500 requires service a 12 months, stated pilot and deputy Rob Gracia. The lack of one might influence the division’s mission, he stated.
“We’re quick on personnel, we’re quick on crews. So that is going to make rescues a little bit tougher,” Villanueva said.
The AS332 Super Puma and its crew are known for daring rescues along twisty roads in the L.A. mountains used by car and motorcycle enthusiasts. In 2018, NBC Los Angeles documented the prowess of the helicopter as it landed on a narrow stretch of mountain road.
Villanueva believes the crash is the result of a sudden mechanical or “environmental” malfunction. The cause was under investigation.
