Doctor Killed in San Diego Copter Crash

A helicopter crashed into a residential neighborhood Tuesday, killing the chief of neurosurgery at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center and seriously injuring another doctor, officials said.

No one on the ground was hurt in the 4 p.m. accident, said Dennis Cornelsen of the San Diego Fire Department.

Killed was the pilot, Dr. George Prioleau, 47, director of neurosurgery. He was an experienced pilot, said Dr. Maurice Alfaro, hospital medical director.

Dr. Roberto Cueva, 38, was in good condition Tuesday at Sharp Memorial Hospital with a fractured leg, said spokeswoman Judith Pierce.

“The hospital is extremely distraught as I am myself,” Alfaro said at a news conference.

“They were very close friends, so we’re all very upset,” he said, choking back tears.

Prioleau was married, had three children and lived in Poway, about 20 miles northeast of San Diego. He was trained at UC San Francisco. He also served on the faculty at UC San Diego and was coordinating chief of neurosurgery for Southern California Kaiser Permanente Hospitals.

Cueva, of La Jolla, is married and has a child. He specialized in head and neck surgery but did not work in Prioleau’s department.

The Federal Aviation Administration was investigating the accident.

The doctors were videotaping aerial shots of the hospital for a staff presentation on the neurosurgery department when the craft went down between two houses in east San Diego, Alfaro said.

It came down within 10 feet of the structures, hitting Diane Brooks’ fence.

“I just came out to a mess with the helicopter on the side of my house,” Brooks said. “It’s amazing. . . . I’m just glad my house didn’t get wrecked.”

She had just returned from picking up her two children at school when she saw news helicopters overhead. Then she saw the wrecked helicopter smashed against her backyard fence.

Lorrie McRae, who lives next to Brooks, said the helicopter made several passes overhead as she watched in her backyard.

“It stopped at one time and the passenger was looking down toward me,” she said. “The pilot turned to look down at me and it started spinning and sounding funny. Then it started dropping toward me and that’s when I ran.”