Copter Crash Killed Pilot, Police Officer : Accident: Craft was on a dinner excursion from Burbank to Downtown L.A. Two women remain hospitalized; one of them is in critical condition and still not identified.

The two men killed when a tour helicopter crashed in the Cahuenga Pass were identified Sunday as the pilot and a San Bernardino police officer taking a dinner excursion flight between Burbank Airport and Downtown Los Angeles.

Timothy Rice, 34, a five-year veteran of the San Bernardino force, died in the 7:47 p.m. Saturday crash, which also seriously injured two women aboard, authorities said. The copter plummeted to earth on the north side of the Hollywood Freeway near Barham Boulevard after it struck high-voltage wires in heavy fog, authorities said.

According to a short news release issued by the San Bernardino Police Department, Rice was a patrol officer and the divorced father of five children.

The name of the pilot of the Bell Jet Ranger was not released Sunday pending notification of relatives.

An official with Wolfe Air Co., the Burbank-based aviation firm that owned the helicopter, refused comment on the crash.

One of the two women injured in the accident was identified as Diane Brooks, the owner of Aria Tours, an Ontario-based limousine service that offers the dinner flight excursion to customers, authorities said.

“She was in the helicopter on business,” said Paula Correia, a spokeswoman at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where Brooks was in serious condition.

Brooks suffered cuts and bruises and was expected to undergo wrist surgery Sunday, Correia said. The mother of three, Brooks had spoken with her husband, who said he felt blessed that she survived, according to Correia.

The other victim was not identified Sunday, and why she was aboard the flight was unclear. She was listed in critical condition at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, a hospital spokeswoman said, noting, “She is still a Jane Doe.”

The flight was bound for the helipad atop the Transamerica Building in Downtown Los Angeles, a frequent stop for tour helicopters because passengers can dine at a rooftop restaurant, said Los Angeles Police Officer Lorrie Taylor.

Another large dinner-excursion flight service, Heli USA Helicopters, canceled all flights at 4 p.m. Saturday because of poor visibility and bad weather, said Reagan Stannard, the company’s vice president.

Stannard, whose firm operates from Santa Monica Airport, said the $100-per-person dinner excursions and tours are generally canceled whenever visibility is poor.

The fatal Wolfe Air flight was aloft just 12 minutes before the helicopter crashed, said a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration. An investigation is being conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Initial reports indicate the pilot was flying low through the pass to avoid thick fog when the helicopter’s rotors struck electrical wires.