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A helicopter crashed near the Squaw Peak Freeway,
between Camelback & Indian School Road
in Phoenix.
I used to live on 13th Street & Colter which is
just north of Camelback.
A few years back a two news helicopters crashed within a couple of miles of there at Steele Indian School Park on Central & Indian School Road. Phoenix helicopter crash leaves 2 hospitalized by Shaun McKinnon, Matt Loper and Cossandra Strande May. 2, 2012 09:46 PM The Republic | azcentral.com Nothing about their job with the Phoenix Water Services Department prepared Alan Cottrell and Ron Ponce for what happened when a helicopter crashed into a quiet central Phoenix neighborhood a little before noon Wednesday. Yet authorities described the actions of the two men as heroic: They rushed to the crumpled chopper and helped a neighbor pull the pilot and a passenger from the wreckage. "What's more important is that they are alive. It appears that they are going to be OK," James Holmes, a spokesman for the Police Department, told reporters at the scene. "I think we've got two or three heroes down here on the ground, and so we're all very happy." The injured occupants of the aircraft were hospitalized at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center as federal officials began an investigation into the accident. The helicopter, a Hughes 269C, was loaded onto a truck late in the afternoon as part of that probe. Authorities have not yet identified the pilot or the passenger. The drama unfolded around 11:45a.m. Cottrell and Ponce were in an alley behind a house in the 1800 block of East Roma Avenue, near 18th Street and Campbell Avenue, when the helicopter clipped the roof of one house, hit a second house and landed in the backyard.
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Witnesses said the aircraft appeared to be experiencing engine problems in the moments before it went down. Cottrell said he and Ponce were shaken by the impact but ran quickly toward the aircraft, which by then stuck up at a 90-degree angle behind one of the houses. "It was sheer panic," Cottrell said afterward. "Panic, helpless, scared, all rolled into one. It was so scary. We couldn't get to them. We had to break the gate open with a pry bar." The two city workers, who had been on a routine assignment until the crash, raced into the backyard with a neighbor. Part of the house's roof had collapsed from the impact. The pilot had been thrown out of the chopper, but the passenger was still inside. "They had some cuts and scrapes," Cottrell said, "The pilot had a broken arm." The pilot and passenger appeared confused. "They weren't saying anything," Cottrell said. "The passenger was reluctant to get out of the helicopter." The three men pulled the victims from the helicopter and moved the passenger and the pilot from the crash site, fearing the aircraft might explode. Although the top rotor wasn't turning, the tail rotor was still spinning and the engine was running. Holmes said the rescuers tried to turn off the helicopter but were unsuccessful. Firefighters finally cut the engine and stopped fuel from leaking. Both of the homes that were hit are expected to be livable, Holmes said. No one was inside either house when the helicopter crashed. Carole Jacobson, who lives next door to a home that was hit, said, "All I know is that there was a huge explosion and a loud boom." Jacobson said that she had spoken with one homeowner, who had left the house 20 minutes before the accident. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. 12 News reporter Ed Tribble contributed to this article. 12 News reporter Ed Tribble contributed to this report. |
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