Fuel Mixture Ruled Out as Cause of Copter Crash

The fuel in a Los Angeles police helicopter that crashed last week contained an insufficient level of an additive, but the mixture was most likely unrelated to the chopper’s engine failure, authorities said Monday.

Concerns of contamination had prompted the Police Department’s air support unit to obtain fuel from outside sources while tests were conducted on the normal fuel supply. Sgt. Jim Heintzman said Monday that the tests found that the additive--designed to counteract contaminants such as water--was added to the fuel but not at the levels called for under city specifications.

However, Heintzman stressed that investigators do not believe that the additive--or lack of it--contributed to the crash of the French-made Aerospatiale AStar helicopter.