Copter Showed No Sign of Engine Trouble : Aviation: Two victims in the fiery accident on Pomona Freeway are tentatively identified as Japanese nationals. Visibility was not a factor, investigators say.

There were no signs of engine failure before a helicopter clipped a telegraph cable between the tops of two power line towers, crashed onto the Pomona Freeway and exploded in flames, killing both men on board and tying up traffic for hours, federal officials said Wednesday.

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office said the victims were tentatively identified as Japanese nationals, one 24, the other 33. Both victims were severely burned in the fire that followed the crash, and positive identification was not expected for several days.

The Robinson R-22 helicopter, which had been on a training flight from Chino to Pacoima, was flying back to Chino Airport about 9:42 p.m. Tuesday when the accident occurred, said Tom Wilcox, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board.

Wilcox said a Los Angeles police officer and a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy were both eastbound on the Pomona Freeway in the Hacienda Heights area when they noticed the aircraft following the freeway in roughly the same direction as they were driving.

The helicopter was flying at a slow speed and at an unusually low altitude, with its landing lights on, the two officers said.

“They saw a flash,” Wilcox said of the officers.

Evidence shows that the helicopter struck and severed a seven-strand communications cable between two 180-foot Southern California Edison Co. towers that straddle the freeway, NTSB officials said. The broken cable dropped onto some power lines, which shorted out in the flash of light that could be seen for miles.

The crippled aircraft crashed onto the westbound lanes between Azusa Avenue and Hacienda Boulevard and burst into flames, witnesses said. Debris from the shattered aircraft struck several cars, causing minor injuries to four motorists and triggering a traffic jam that lasted for more than five hours.

Safety board sources said the overcast ceiling was several thousand feet above the ground and visibility was about five miles at the time of the accident, so it appears unlikely that weather had forced the pilot into the power lines.

Although specifying no specific minimum altitudes, Federal Aviation Administration regulations require a helicopter to fly at a sufficient height to permit making a safe landing in the event of engine failure, Wilcox said.

A preliminary study of the wreckage gives no indication that the helicopter’s engine failed or that it suffered any other type of mechanical failure, sources said.

Although other models have experienced problems prompting NTSB requests for a safety review, Robinson’s two-seat R-22, built at the company plant in Torrance, generally has an excellent safety record.

“The Robinson (R-22) helicopter has had a lot of accidents, but they were always attributed to pilot error,” said Bob Muse, director of operations for U.S. Helicopters in Long Beach, the authorized dealer for R-22s in Southern California.

“The problem is that it’s the No. 1 helicopter in the world,” Muse said. “There are more R-22s sold than all other helicopters combined, but their primary use is for flight training, so you end up with the least experienced people flying the aircraft.

“Wires and helicopters have always been a problem,” Muse said. “The pilot probably lost his train of thought and ended up flying lower than he should.”

Muse said he sold the helicopter involved in the crash to Scott Tingley, president of Skyline Aviation, a firm that rents helicopters and other aircraft at Chino airport.

Tingley said the pilot of the chopper that crashed was “FAA licensed with plenty of experience.” In about one more week, he would have had the training and flight experience necessary to apply for a commercial pilot’s license.

“He filed a flight plan to Whiteman (Airport in Pacoima), then he was going to fly to Downtown L.A., and then head back to Chino,” Tingley said.

The helicopter carrying the two men took off about 8 p.m. and headed northwest toward Pacoima, the NTSB said.

Wilcox said that while flying over the San Fernando Valley, the pilot talked with air traffic controllers at Burbank Airport. The pilot did not mention trouble, Wilcox said.

The safety board investigator said that when heading from Downtown to Chino, helicopters often fly along a traffic corridor that roughly follows the Pomona Freeway.

“He was a Japanese pilot, and he might have been confused where he was,” Muse said. “If you’re flying near the freeway, sometimes you go down low to read the freeway signs.”

Wilcox said the NTSB is not expected to complete its investigation and render a verdict on the cause of the accident for several months.