The Airbus AS-350 B2 helicopter that fatally crashed in a neighborhood of Los Angeles in September was descending rapidly before striking a metal storage container, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation preliminary report.
The accident occurred September 15 around 6:55 p.m. PDT in Chatsworth, California, as the helicopter—registered N358TV and operated by Angel City Air on behalf of KNBC-TV, known locally as NBC4—was conducting an electronic news gathering flight under Part 91. The crash killed the pilot, an onboard news reporter, and one person on the ground, causing minor injury to a second person on the ground.
The pilot and onboard reporter had flown from Whiteman Airport (KWHP) to Chatsworth to gather video footage of a recent fatal traffic accident. The helicopter maneuvered around the scene for about 1 hour and 24 minutes. About one minute before crashing, its ground speed was 6 knots and altitude was about 800 feet agl.
Investigators examined the recording taken aboard the helicopter to gather evidence of what may have occurred. It “captured ambient helicopter noise that included sounds from both the main rotor and engine” and which “remained consistent with normal operations” for most of the recording, the NTSB said.
During the final 29 seconds, the recording picked up “intermittent and continuous horns” that the agency said were consistent with helicopter’s main rotor high rpm, low rotor rpm, and other aural advisories.
Around 6:55 p.m., ADS-B data indicated the helicopter was descending rapidly and turning right, reaching 38 knots groundspeed when it was above the accident site. Video cameras from nearby buildings captured the moment it impacted the storage container and a subsequent fire.
Conditions at the accident site were VMC, with clear skies and no cloud ceilings. Visibility was 10 sm, and temperature was 73 degrees.
The NTSB’s field examination found that debris extended about 30 feet around the main wreckage. The fuselage was “mostly reduced to ash and thermally damaged metal,” it said. The tailboom separated from the fuselage, but all major components either remained attached or were found close by.
The NTSB is continuing to investigate the accident and has not yet determined a probable cause.
About one week after the news helicopter crash, two crewmembers were killed in a firefighting helicopter crash while battling a blaze in California’s Yosemite National Park. Earlier this month, a medevac helicopter carrying five people crashed off the coast of California, killing three and injuring two.