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Police Choppers Collide Near L.A.

Hannah Madans |
November 18, 2012 | 3:30 p.m. PST

Senior News Editor

LAPD (Creative Commons)
LAPD (Creative Commons)
Two Pasadena police helicopters collided Saturday. The accident left six people injured, including five police officers.

Both helicopters were seriously damaged. The rotator of one touched the rotator of the other chopper, police told the Daily Beast.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board said they will look into the incident further.

According to ABC News:

Investigators believe Saturday's crash occurred when the rotator blades touched of a chopper that was landing and one that was taking off, Lt. Phlunte Riddle said.

The collision caused extensive damage to both aircraft, crumpling the tail and breaking the blades of one and causing the blade to fall off and other damages to the other.

The injured were taken to hospitals for evaluation after the 4 p.m. collision at a helipad in Altadena. Riddle said they included a pilot and an observer in each of the Bell OH-58A helicopters and two officers on the ground. One of the observers was a civilian.

One helicopter crew was on routine patrol and the other was assigned to monitor traffic from the UCLA-Southern California football game at the Rose Bowl, she said.

The weather was drizzly and cloudy at the time of the accident.

 

Reach Senior News Editor Hannah Madans here.



 

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