In a scary and potentially fatal incident, a helicopter lost control and crashed near a busy California beach. As a result, five people, including a child, were hospitalized.
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As reported by CBS News, the incident occurred on Saturday, October 11. At around 2 p.m., near a parking lot between Beach Boulevard and Twin Dolphins Drive, a Bell 222 helicopter was seen spinning and eventually crashing into palm trees.
Many on the Huntington Beach coast witnessed in horror as the helicopter went down.
“I was stunned,” Timothy Bartlett, who captured the moment, told ABC News. “As soon as I saw it spinning, I knew it was going to crash because it just didn’t look right, and I knew something was wrong.”
Bartlett added that while he didn’t see the helicopter bursting into flames, he did witness a fuel leak. He added, “I just was hoping, praying that everyone was OK.”
This was echoed by witness Kevin Bullat, who immediately knew something was not right given the helicopter’s sound. He told CBS News, “You can hear this odd sound that didn’t sound right. I looked out and I see the helicopter spiraling out of control. … My friend saw shrapnel, or just debris, catapulting across PCH.”
KTLA reported that witnesses saw the helicopter’s rotor fly off its tail before the aircraft crashed into the palm trees.
5 Hospitalized
As per the outlet, two people inside the helicopter were injured but successfully pulled from the resulting wreckage. Three pedestrians were also injured as a result of the crash. All five people were hospitalized, including a child.
As per CBS News, other helicopters were parked near the crash scene as part of an “exclusive helicopter landing party.” It was hosted by MD Helicopters, with attendees being able to witness several helicopter landings throughout the event’s duration.
Following the crash, the organizers shared a statement, saying that the event, “Cars ‘N Copters On the Coast,” was moving forward as planned.
“We are sending our prayers out to all involved in the unfortunate incident today,” the statement read, as per CBS News. “Our plan for now is to move forward with our event tomorrow, Sunday, October 12th. We will advise everyone at the earliest possible opportunity if that plan changes.”
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were notified, and an investigation remains ongoing.