2 Injured as Copter Crashes on Street
Two people were slightly injured and another walked away unharmed when a helicopter lost power and crash-landed on a residential street in Long Beach on Saturday morning, narrowly missing homes lining both sides of the road, authorities said.
Long Beach Fire Department spokesman Robert Caldon said the pilot, David Burns, 40, of Seal Beach, managed to “auto-rotate” the 20-year-old craft down in the middle of Raymond Avenue at 11 a.m.
However, a blade of the $60,000-helicopter, which overturned in the street and was destroyed, punctured the door of an automobile parked nearby, Caldon said.
Passengers Doug Armstrong, 44, and his wife, Kathy, 35, of Sunset Beach, were treated for minor cuts and bruises at St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach and released, Caldon said.
They had been observing boat races between Santa Catalina Island and Long Beach and were heading back to Long Beach Airport when the helicopter crashed, Caldon said.
The cause of the crash was under investigation.
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