Helicopter Makes Emergency Landing on Santiago Peak
A private helicopter carrying transmission antenna repairmen to Santiago Peak in eastern Orange County made a rough emergency landing on the mountainside Wednesday, causing minor injuries to a passenger.
Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. William Miller said the two-seat Robinson R-22 helicopter based at Long Beach Airport was approaching the 5,687-foot peak just before 2 p.m. when the rotor blades lost power.
Miller said that the pilot, Charles Belda, 32, of Redondo Beach, put the helicopter into a glide to increase the speed of the rotor blades before landing but that one of the helicopter’s landing skids became entangled in brush, forcing the craft to the ground.
The pilot escaped unharmed, but the passenger, Terry Adams, 35, of Long Beach, suffered minor cuts, Miller said. Damage to the helicopter was slight.
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