Helicopter crashes in Los Angeles, killing at least three people
(CNN) — A helicopter crashed between two commercial buildings in a Los Angeles suburb on Tuesday night, killing at least three people, according to officials.
The crash occurred in Chatsworth, a neighborhood about 25 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, near where emergency officials were responding to a deadly bus collision.
Three people were determined dead on the scene, the LA Fire Department said in a statement late Tuesday, and one person has been transported to a local hospital. Their condition is unknown.
The cause of the crash is unknown and authorities have not said how many people were in the helicopter.
One of the three deceased was a “pedestrian who was outside, in the parking lot,” LAFD Fire Captain Branden Silverman told reporters from the scene, adding that the Los Angeles Police Department was involved in pulling that person away from the fire.
Silverman said the helicopter was “pretty well destroyed,” and authorities would have to search through the rubble to identify victims and the helicopter’s identification.
The aircraft was a news station helicopter, according to CNN affiliate KCAL/KCBS. According to Federal Aviation Administration records, it was a Eurocopter AS350 B2 built in 2004 – a popular, single-engine utility helicopter.
The crash caused a fire as it landed near several vehicles and two large cargo containers, LAFD said in a statement. Videos from the scene showed flames and thick plumes of smoke billowing from the site of the crash.
The fire has since been extinguished, LAFD said, adding that 56 firefighters responded to the incident. Four vehicles and two storage containers were damaged, it added.
The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA will be handling the investigation, LAFD said. CNN has reached out to the FAA and NTSB.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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CNN’s Josh Campbell, Aaron Cooper, Amanda Jackson, Blake Fogg and Diego Mendoza contributed to this report.
