This is the first in a series of videos chronicling the response by Seattle Police Department to the tragic 2014 crash of a KOMO 4 news helicopter in downtown Seattle.
On March 18, 2014, at about 0740 Pacific daylight time, an Airbus Helicopters AS350 B2 helicopter, registration N250FB, was destroyed when it impacted terrain following takeoff from the KOMO TV Heliport (WN16) in Seattle, Washington. The helicopter was registered to, and operated by, Helicopters Incorporated The commercial pilot and one passenger were fatally injured. One person occupying a stationary automobile was seriously injured when the accident helicopter impacted terrain immediately adjacent to the automobile. (Incredibly, that person emerged from his vehicle – on fire – minutes after the helicopter crash.) Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the local repositioning flight that was originating at the time of the accident. The pilot’s intended destination was the Renton Municipal Airport (RNT) in Renton, WA.
The Electronic News Gathering equipped helicopter had landed on the KOMO News helipad about 30 minutes prior to the accident in order to refuel for its repositioning flight to RNT. A witness who was located on the south side of the helipad reported that he observed the helicopter initially lift off of the helipad to about 15 ft, then heard a muffled sound like a car backfiring, after which the helicopter immediately pointed nose up and began rotating counter-clockwise, spinning out of sight.
A second witness, who was stationed in a crane a few hundred feet to the northeast of the helipad, reported that he observed the helicopter rise up off of the helipad, turn toward the west, and then “shoot straight back†with its nose up, out of control. It then nosed down into the street below, descending into an occupied automobile near a main street intersection, after which a post-impact fire ensued.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this accident to be loss of helicopter control due to a loss of hydraulic boost to the tail rotor pedal controls at takeoff, followed by a loss of hydraulic boost to the main rotor controls after takeoff. The reason for the loss of hydraulic boost to the main and tail rotor controls could not be determined because of fire damage to hydraulic system components and the lack of a flight recording device.
A video providing additional insight into what led the NTSB to its conclusions will be forthcoming.
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** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) **
Can someone explain to me why there are more dislikes than likes?
This is all Charles' fault.
Don’t surprise me, reading the comments. Social media has made tons of proud ignorant people. Just think, you sister, daughter, mother and so forth was hit by that and the social media ignorants made disrespectful comments.
What a shit video. Instead of seeing a helicopter crash we get to look at a hotdog stand
as a former helicopter mechanic I would say the drive shaft or tail gear box or..tail strike caused the jet ranger to loose all tail rotor control. That caused the aircraft to spin before impact.
And now I want a chili cheese dog.
Gary Pfitzner (pilot)
Bill Strothman (photojournalist)
R.I.P.
The only video of the burnt guy from the red car that I've seen is when there are firemen around him. Most of the video of the police arriving are before the FD arrives.
So, what's going on in the mind of the guy lying on the sidewalk who just got critcally flash fried? Like, how the fuck long is it going to be until someone notices me?
U can hear how upset that lady is knowing her co-workers are in there dead
Three cops in one care responding to calls that will make cops look like a hero! It’s all BS!
Unfortunate accident really crappy video
What a waste of space on YT..!!
Showed a hole lot of nothing.
So technical… "fatally injured" … "impacted terrain immediately adjacent" … politically correct terms are getting ridiculous… "were killed" … "hit the ground next to" … a little less political that way… shame ppl died tho…. would have been great if they could have auto-rotated safely to the ground….
Well, that did not show much of anything. How about just showing some of the fire scene and then add a description of the rest?
Cop drives in circles
😆 Omfg! The description of this video. Loooooooooool!
It could start out with "On March 18, 2014, around 7:40 AM, a KOMO helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff, killing both onboard and injuring a nearby civilian."
But it doesn't! 😆 It starts of with derp uh derp uh derp….uhhhhhhh….Seattle is on Pacific time….errrrr….here's some numbers and words….uhhhhhh….
The terminology: "witness was stationed " . Since when civilians are military personnel.
Hello sorry for the loss of life God Speed. My condolences.
Those hotdogs on sale?
Cop drives DIRECTLY through the scene not once, but twice. What the hell hahahaha.
What is the point of this?
RIP
11 minutes of looking at a stop light pole.
AStar 350 commonly known as the Death Star ….. lost a friend in one of these …. same situation, hydraulic failure.
I've never seen an officer drive so slow to an aircraft crash before! Hello, people probably need HELP and it's like your out for a Sunday drive.
So I enjoy real world police but the 3 videos of this helicopter crash really isn’t worth watching unless u want to see traffic, a food stand, and a very small fire that was out in 10 secs. You will learn more about this crash from the news.
People sure got crazy when that hot dog stand ran out of hotdogs.
Thanks for tuning the horns out. Very sad.
Umm, thanks, for the considerate arrow in the film, but the smoke is sufficient to draw attention. 😉
Thanks again for another harrowing and interesting video. This is great channel.
I hope the victims and their families are at peace.
If one is to read up on this incident. Your take away should be, don't trust your employer to tell you how to do your job if they don't know how to do it them selves.
So how stoned to you have to be to not realize a helicopter has crashed on top of your car and you are now on fire?
Memo to officers arriving to a critical event. DON'T DRIVE THROUGH THE EVIDENCE!
Wow, 3:15, the obligatory selfie with a burning helicopter. How nice.
Fascinating content starring at a food kiosk for 15 minutes
Dual hydraulic failure for all flight controls unfortunately they were destined to die that day. No altitude and dead stick is game over for any aircraft fixed wing or rotor
Wondering why the unit took city streets to the crash site when he could have taken the helicopter route.
I hope they landed on some antifa protesters.
Nice vid. I actually want to become a CHP officer and patrol the streets and keep my city safe
I remember this. I have watched Komo everyday since I was very young. I'd talk politics with my elementary school teachers. I was watching the news this day. This is one of the worst stories Komo has had to report on.