Crash of Helicopter Killed Pilot, Policeman

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

Timothy Rice, 34, a five-year veteran of the San Bernardino Police Department, died in the 7:47 p.m. Saturday crash, which also seriously injured two female passengers, 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 press release issued by San Bernardino police, Rice was a patrol officer and the father of five children. A desk officer at the station said Rice was divorced.

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

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

One of the two women injured in the crash was identified as Diane Brooks, the owner of Aria Tours, an Ontario-based limousine service that offers the dinner excursion flight to its 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. “This was an excursion flight.”

Brooks suffered cuts and bruises and was expected to undergo wrist surgery Sunday afternoon, Correia said. Brooks, the mother of three children, appeared alert and awake and spoke with her husband, who said he felt blessed that his wife survived the accident, Correia said.

The other woman in the crash had not been identified Sunday. Her relationship to others aboard the flight was unclear. She is listed in critical condition at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, a hospital spokeswoman said.

“At this time, she is still in critical condition and being treated for her injuries,” she said. “She still is 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 restaurant in the building, said Los Angeles Police Officer Lorrie Taylor.

Heli USA Helicopters, one of the largest helicopter services offering dinner excursions, 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 company operates from Santa Monica Airport, said the $100-per-person dinner excursions and tours are generally canceled whenever visibility is poor.

“If visibility is low, we don’t do it because the passenger won’t get a chance to see much,” she said. The company offers rain checks or refunds for canceled flights.

The fatal Wolfe Air flight was in the air just 12 minutes before the helicopter crashed as a result of “unknown circumstances,” a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration said. An investigation into the crash is being conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency that investigates air accidents.

Initial reports indicate the pilot flew low through the pass to avoid thick fog when the helicopter’s rotors struck electrical wires. The craft’s rotor landed across the highway, on the north side of the freeway, authorities said.