Student Pilot Dies in Helicopter Crash

A 45-year-old student pilot who had taken off from Van Nuys Airport was killed when his helicopter crashed Friday afternoon for unknown reasons near Six Flags Magic Mountain, authorities said.

The crash occurred at about 3:45 p.m. at the edge of a large plowed field west of the amusement park, said Lt. Bill Dunn of Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. The nose of the helicopter apparently struck a 10-foot hill at high speed, strewing wreckage up to 100 yards away.

“Preliminarily, it appears as though he may have been practicing landing and he didn’t make it,” Dunn said.

Officials at the scene said it was also possible the helicopter had some kind of engine failure.

The pilot’s name was not made public Friday, pending notification of next of kin, Dunn said. The aircraft took off from Pacific Shore Aviation, a helicopter instruction school in Van Nuys.

The helicopter burst into flames after the crash, igniting a small brush fire nearby and burning the pilot beyond recognition, said Mark Siegal, a helicopter pilot for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Most of the aircraft, except for the crumpled frame, was consumed by the blaze.

It took firefighters 20 to 25 minutes to reach the crash site because some of the dirt roads leading to the remote field were impassable due to recent rain. Siegal said he could see six-foot flames and “a lot of black smoke” when he sighted the wreckage from the air about 10 minutes after the crash. But he said the sparse vegetation kept the fire from spreading more than a few hundred feet from the helicopter.

Sheriff’s deputies were continuing to investigate the cause of the crash Friday night. Sgt. Patrick Hunter said the pilot apparently did not make distress calls.

Siegal said the remote area is commonly used by student pilots allowed to make solo flights. The pilot was flying a Hughes 300, a three-seat helicopter commonly used for flight instruction.