5 hurt in California helicopter crash caught on video

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 Curative chopper crashes on Sacramento freeway injuring three Two Delta Air Lines jets damaged in low-speed collision on New York airport taxiway injuring 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 released just after p m Oct 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 spanning PCH Part of the helicopter broke off before the crash People watching and filming the chopper from the sand as it approached were astonished particular videos show repeatedly hollering Oh my God after it began to spiral and then hit the cement On Saturday evening Jerry Miller of Redlands authenticated in a telephone call that his son-in-law Eric Nixon was piloting the helicopter when it crashed He s in the hospital with a few broken ribs crushed vertebrae and several bruises revealed Miller adding But I m sorry we have various 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 feet away he mentioned when the crash occurred I noticed when the second one came it was spinning weird he announced 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 stated in mid-afternoon All five individuals are being transported to the hospital for medicine 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 th helicopter planning to land he disclosed They had just done a couple of flybys and circled back around Rausch stated It was just above the landing spot He revealed 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 stated It had already done just an impressive fly-by by the crowd up at the Hilton there Rausch announced 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 track 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 Personnel inquired the society 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 degrees and southwest winds of between five and mph I m not seeing a single cloud near the area The only thing going on are those southwest winds commented Lauren Villafane a meteorologist with the National Weather Provision A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration could not this instant be reached I am not in the office due to a lapse in funding general information officer Ian Gregor mentioned in an email response Corbin explained the FAA would be on scene though Teri Thornhill a spokesperson for Mesa AZ -based MD Helicopters was not right away 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 explained late Saturday afternoon Kubota endorsed that the helicopter was flying in for the Cars N Copters event but announced 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 communicated Pilot and passengers are safe Praise God one commenter wrote Praying for Uncle Eric and his patron On Saturday evening Corbin announced the Cars N Copters event will still take place on Sunday