Copter Crashes in Los Padres Forest; 3 Escape Serious Injury

A sightseeing helicopter crashed in the Los Padres National Forest five miles north of Lake Casitas on Sunday night, but none of the three men on board was seriously injured.

Pilot Thomas Schneider, 24, of Camarillo and his passengers were flown by a sheriff’s helicopter to Ventura County Medical Center.

Thomas Ball, 41, of Port Hueneme suffered a minor injury to his right ankle, and his 16-year-old son, Josh, was uninjured.

The helicopter, which had been rented at Camarillo Airport earlier in the day, was above White Ledge Peaks about 6 p.m. when it lost power. Schneider tried to land the copter, but caught the brush and the craft flipped upside-down, said Sgt. Bret Uhlich of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

“They are very lucky,” he said. “The pilot did a pretty good job bringing the aircraft down.”

Uhlich said the heavy brush cushioned the impact. A pilot flying in the area alerted the Sheriff’s Department to the downed helicopter about 6:30 p.m.

When the rescue crew arrived around 7 p.m., about an hour after the crash, all three men had climbed out of the helicopter. The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the crash.