Choppers Collide In Phoenix. 4 Dead
News helicopters collide; 4 dead
A police chase through the streets of downtown Phoenix turned into a midair tragedy Friday afternoon when two television news helicopters covering the action collided and crashed to the ground in smoke and flame, killing all four people on board.
KTVK-TV said photojournalist Jim Cox and pilot Scott Bowerback were killed. KNXV-TV identified its crew as photographer Rick Krolak and pilot Craig Smith.
The helicopters collided as the stations were covering the police pursuit of a stolen white truck towing a trailer. Assistant Chief Mark Angle of the Phoenix Fire Department said wreckage from both helicopters then landed in a downtown park.
Aerial footage from another station covering the chase, KPNX-TV, showed large plumes of black smoke and flames coming from the wreckage.
The helicopters collided as the stations were covering the police pursuit of a stolen white truck towing a trailer. Assistant Chief Mark Angle of the Phoenix Fire Department said wreckage from both helicopters then landed in a downtown park.
Aerial footage from another station covering the chase, KPNX-TV, showed large plumes of black smoke and flames coming from the wreckage.
"I was driving and heard a bang," one unnamed witness told KPHO.
"I was standing out on Central Avenue and I was looking over to the park and saw the helicopters get close," Jerry Fender told KPHO. "The blue one split and went down. The red or orange one went right after it."
posted by Tramp at
Saturday, July 28, 2007
2 Comments:
i am wondering when they are going to release furthur information on this story ...........
From what i have heard at least one person walking through the park was killed from the fall out....
I hope they do not try to hide any of the facts here .........
Granted what i know i have heard from a friend of the alleged victim ......
But i will be watching closely to see what unfolds.
I think you may be talking about a truck that was hit by the falling rotor blade pieces.
I am skipping the local news and authorities and going straight to the NTSB. They aren’t going to hide anything, unlike what some locals might try to do.
Here is the latest info I could get.
NTSB board member Steve Chealander, who is part of an eight-member NTSB team, told reporters at a news briefing that “a piece of rotor blade had hit the windshield of a delivery truck. No one in the truck was injured.”
The team will spend the next few days reviewing all aspects of the tragedy. He ( Chealander) said the operation is in the recovery phase, with all pieces of wreckage being taken to a secure location. Chealander said investigators will try to piece the two helicopters back together again in an attempt to understand what happened.
Two small ponds at the park are hazmat scenes, with aviation fuel floating on top of one of them. Chealander said the ponds are being partially drained in an effort to retrieve wreckage and send it off for analysis.
Authorities took photos and measured distances on Saturday morning in an effort to understand where and how the helicopters fell.
He said the on-scene part of the investigation at the park will conclude around noon on Sunday. Investigators will then shift their attention to studying the debris they’ve recovered.
A preliminary report is expected to be finished by next Friday, Chealander said.
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