Five people were injured after a helicopter in Huntington Beach, California, crashed into palm trees on Saturday afternoon. Footage from local news outlet KTLA shows the helicopter descending toward the street as people watch, before dropping and crashing by the roadway.
The Huntington Beach Police Department said in a statement that it responded to the incident around 2 p.m. local time. The helicopter involved was associated with the Cars ‘N Copters on the Coast event, police said.
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A Huntington Beach police spokesperson told KTLA that two people who were on board the helicopter and three people on the street were taken to the hospital. Witnesses said in interviews with the news outlet that they saw the helicopter’s rotor fly off the tail before it crashed.
Organizers for Cars ‘N Copters said in a statement that they plan to move forward with the event on Sunday.
“We are sending our prayers out to all involved in the unfortunate incident today,” they said in a Saturday Facebook post.
Both the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were notified about the crash, Huntington Beach police said, and an investigation into the incident is ongoing.
2nd California helicopter crash
Meanwhile, on Monday, California authorities said three people were hospitalized in critical condition after a medical helicopter crashed on a major highway in Sacramento. The helicopter had taken off from the University of California Davis Medical Center and was heading north before the crash.
The three people injured included two women and a man who were all on board the helicopter before it went down. One of the victims was trapped under the helicopter. A group of about 15 bystanders quickly jumped in to help lift the wreckage and pull the victim to safety.
