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Federal Investigators Work To Determine Cause Of Seattle Helicopter Crash

Federal Investigators Work To Determine Cause Of Seattle Helicopter Crash

By Mike Baker, The Seattle Times

SEATTLE — Federal investigators worked Wednesday to painstakingly deconstruct a KOMO-TV news helicopter and determine what caused the aircraft to crash onto a Seattle street Tuesday, killing the pilot and a photographer.

That task is complicated by the sheer intensity of the accident, which engulfed the helicopter in flames and left the body of the aircraft an unrecognizable heap of rubble. Crews have been sifting through the wreckage to determine which components remained intact.

“A lot of those parts and pieces are simply gone,” said Dennis Hogenson, acting deputy chief of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Western Pacific Region.

Hogenson said there’s always a possibility that crews wouldn’t be able to pinpoint the nature of any mechanical issue — if that’s what caused the accident — because of the extent of the damage. But he was optimistic that wouldn’t happen.

“I’m confident that we’re going to figure this out,” Hogenson said.

Investigators were still exploring all possible causes, reviewing maintenance records, collecting video from the Seattle Police Department, assessing witness statements and interviewing construction-crane operators in the area. Technical experts from both the helicopter and engine manufacturers were on hand to help.

Hogenson said the pilot had approximately 900 hours of experience in the helicopter model — a Eurocopter AS350 — that crashed and some 7,700 hours of flight time overall.

The last significant maintenance inspection on the aircraft occurred in January, and Hogenson said there were no outstanding maintenance issues and no reports of problems when the pilot returned from an initial flight earlier Tuesday.

The accident occurred about 7:40 a.m. Tuesday as the helicopter was taking off from the rooftop helipad at Fisher Plaza across Broad Street from the Space Needle.

The area surrounding the crash site includes cranes that loom high above construction sites. Hogenson said the pilot typically communicates with those crane operators during landings and takeoffs, and the pilot had contacted one crane operator shortly before takeoff, simply notifying the person that the helicopter was departing.

Hogenson said there’s no indication at this point that the cranes had anything to do with the crash. Witnesses have said the helicopter barely started its takeoff before tumbling to the street.

The crash killed pilot Gary Pfitzner, 59, of Issaquah, and longtime photojournalist Bill Strothman, 62, of Bothell.

Richard Newman, a 38-year-old from Seattle who was severely injured when the helicopter fell onto his car on Broad Street, is improving and breathing on his own, hospital officials said Wednesday. He remains in serious condition at the Harborview Medical Center intensive-care unit.

Some witnesses have said the helicopter made an unusual noise as it lifted off.

Jan Drago, a former member of the Seattle City Council, said she arrived near the KOMO studios Wednesday just before the crash so that she could get a movie from a nearby convenience store. As she got out of her vehicle, she had a clear view of the helicopter pad and said she felt the aircraft was out of place.

“The helicopter was not in the middle of the helipad like it would normally be,” Drago said. She has lived in Seattle since 1980 and said she is very familiar with the sight of the helicopter atop the building.

Drago said the helicopter was sitting near the edge of the pad in the direction of the Space Needle. Still, she convinced herself that it was routine and went to pick up her movie, only to have the crash occur moments later.

Chris McColgan, 26, was in his vehicle at the stoplight right below the helicopter pad. He looked up once he started to hear the helicopter and said he could see the tail near the short fence that surrounds the pad.

However, McColgan said it didn’t seem like the main body of the helicopter was close to the edge when it began to lift off. He watched as the helicopter’s tail swung back and forth and then spun out of view before the helicopter pulled away from the pad and then tumbled to the street below.

Accidents involving news helicopters have happened before in Washington. In 1999, a KIRO-TV helicopter collided with another helicopter above Lake Union, but both choppers managed to land safely. In 1985, two people were killed when a news helicopter in Spokane crashed.

Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration issued new rules for helicopter safety, requiring operators to improve pilot training, upgrade safety equipment and follow stricter flying procedures in bad weather.

Mike Siegel/Seattle Times/MCT

At Least 2 Killed In Crash Of News Helicopter

At Least 2 Killed In Crash Of News Helicopter

By Brian M. Rosenthal, Steve Miletich and Jack Broom, The Seattle Times

SEATTLE — At least two people were killed Tuesday morning when a KOMO-TV helicopter crashed onto a street just south of the Space Needle.

The two who died were aboard the helicopter, according to the Seattle Fire Department.

The helicopter, which apparently was taking off around 7:40 a.m., dropped to the ground, landing on at least one car that burst into flames. A second car and a pickup were on fire when firefighters arrived, but it isn’t clear if they had been hit by the helicopter or ignited by the fuel, according to the Fire Department.

The driver of the car that was hit, a 37-year-old man, was taken in critical condition to Harborview Medical Center. He suffered burns over 50 percent of his body, department spokesman Kyle Moore said.

A woman in the second car walked away from the crash scene but later appeared at the Police Department’s West Precinct. The man in the pickup left the area before anyone could talk with him, Moore said. Authorities are looking for him.

Chris McColgan, 26, who lives a couple blocks west of the crash, said he was driving west on Broad Street when he stopped at the light on John Street, just two cars ahead of where the helicopter came down.

“It just blew up instantly,” said McColgan, who saw the helicopter fall from the helipad atop the KOMO building. “The crazy thing is, the movies get it exactly right. It’s that big … It felt like a movie. It still feels like a movie.”

Eyewitnesses told KOMO Radio that fuel from the crashed helicopter ran down Broad Street, causing at least one person to jump out of her car and flee the scene. The fuel burst into flame, sending thick clouds of black smoke into the air near the Space Needle.

The National Transportation Safety Board is on the scene conducting the investigation of the crash, according to Seattle police.

KOMO staff members reported that the fireball from the crashed copter could be seen from their newsroom. They said that an hour after the crash, staff members remained dazed, some sitting at their desks with their heads in their hands.

“It’s sad, it’s just so sad,” said one man who works near the crash site but didn’t want to be identified.

Looking west from the corner of Fifth Avenue and Broad Street he could see a river of water and foam and beyond that the burned-out wreckage of a car, truck and debris spread across the street.

Kelly Koopmans, reporter-anchor for KOMO-TV, said she was sitting at her desk, about 75 yards from the crash scene and first heard a loud rumble that she thought might be coming from a nearby construction site.

But the noise continued increasing. “It was so loud and so close, you had to know something had gone terribly, terribly wrong,” she said.

Rushing to the window, she saw an explosion of billowing flames and a thick plume of black smoke streaming up alongside the Space Needle.

According to a news report, the helicopter was a temporary chopper, used jointly with KING-TV in a shared arrangement.

No identities were available of those killed in the crash.

Photo: Bgautrea via Flickr