2 Killed As Helicopter Crashes on I-15 Median

A helicopter pilot and his passenger were killed Saturday morning when their craft struck a high-tension power line and crashed onto the wide center median of Interstate 15 near the community of Rainbow, just south of the Riverside County line.

The pilot, identified as Patrick Mowry, 31, of Valley Center had only 18 hours’ flight time in a helicopter and was supposed to have been flying solo as part of his qualifying for a helicopter pilot’s license, said San Diego County Deputy Coroner Jack Larkie.

Instead, Mowry had taken a friend with him, identified as Michael Powell, 32, of nearby Pauma Valley.

Both men were killed instantly when the small helicopter, flown out of Civic Helicopters at Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, crashed. It was foggy at the time, but authorities are unsure whether the fog contributed to the crash.

Larkie said the crash was witnessed by an off-duty Los Angeles police officer, who said the craft was flying north and following the freeway when apparently the pilot noticed the high-tension wires directly in his path. As he banked to the left and tried to fly beneath the wires, the top rotor hit the wire and the helicopter plummeted to the ground, Larkie said.

There were no injuries on the ground, though the power lines fell across Old Highway 395, now a frontage road to the newer freeway.

A spokesman at Civic Helicopters declined comment on the crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating the incident.