Copter Pilot Forced to Make Pit Stop at Mall

A West Hills pilot walked away without injury when he was forced to land a helicopter on the roof of a Sherman Oaks mall Saturday, a police sergeant said.

A tail-rotor problem forced the pilot to ground the A-Star chopper on the second-level parking structure of Sherman Oaks Fashion Square, at Woodman Avenue and Riverside Drive, said Sgt. Bob Green of the LAPD Air Support Division.

Patty LaRosa told The Times that her husband, pilot Kevin LaRosa, 48, was en route to Van Nuys Airport, which is several miles from the mall, when mechanical problems forced him to land shortly before 12:50 a.m. Saturday.

“The pilot felt a vibration and made a precautionary landing,” Green said. “After letting the aircraft cool down, the pilot noticed that the tail section of the copter had broken off and was lying on the ground.

“It didn’t happen in flight,” but seemed to have happened after he landed, Green said.

As authorities prepared to remove the helicopter from the mall grounds and return it to Van Nuys Airport, Patty LaRosa related the incident as told to her by her husband.

“The gear-box light for the tail rotor was illuminated and Kevin said he thought he should try to put the copter down soon,” she said. “The helicopter was violently shaking. It was oscillating, up and down and sideways. It was completely out of control.”

She said she had no idea why the copter failed since the couple had the aircraft built to specifications less than 30 days ago. Kevin LaRosa, who owns Jetcopters Inc., a Van Nuys-based company that provides charter helicopter and fixed-wing plane flights, also has worked as an aerial coordinator for many Hollywood films, including “Independence Day,” “The Fugitive” and “Under Siege,” she said.

He was returning home from work on another film in production near Big Bear, his wife said. A veteran pilot with more than 25 years of flight experience, this was his first emergency landing, she said.

“He had the angels watching over him this time,” she said.