Medical Helicopter Bursts Into Flames and Crashes Into Florida Apartment Complex, Killing Two
A Broward Sheriff's Office rescue helicopter caught fire after leaving Pompano Beach Airpark and crashed into an apartment building, killing a veteran fire-rescue captain and a woman on the ground.
By Ishani Kapalli ·
A medical rescue helicopter caught fire and broke apart shortly after departing Pompano Beach Airpark on Monday, crashing into an apartment complex near Fort Lauderdale. The accident killed a paramedic captain aboard the aircraft and a woman who was on the ground, authorities said.
Four other people were hurt: two of the three crew members and two people at the complex. Sheriff Gregory Tony said all four were taken to a hospital and are expected to survive.
The dead crew member was identified as Broward County Fire-Rescue Capt. Terryson Jackson, 49, a 19-year veteran of the department. Tony said the Broward Sheriff's Office helicopter crashed through the roof of the complex after taking off at about 8:45 a.m. The sheriff also oversees the county's fire department.
"Terryson was a rock star, he was one of the best of us," Tony said. "He bled this profession inside and out all day long." The injured firefighters were named as pilot Daron Roche, 37, and Mike Chaguaceda, 31. Officials did not release the name of the woman who died because her family was still being notified.
The crew had been on its way to an emergency medical call, where it was to pick up a patient and bring that person to a hospital. A video posted online shows flames coming from the middle of the helicopter, which trails a long plume of smoke. The aircraft then appears to split in two as it spirals toward the ground. Footage from a different angle indicates the rotor blades were not spinning quickly.
Tony said that while the crew was declaring a mayday to the airport's control tower and working to save the aircraft, they also radioed the paramedics at the emergency scene to warn them that they would need to take the patient to the hospital themselves.
"We are talking about the character of these men," Tony said. "As they were fighting for their lives, they were thinking about somebody else."
Witness Brian Piggott told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that the helicopter started trailing smoke as soon as it lifted off, then lost altitude and went down. Victoria Walczak, who was inside the apartment building at the time, said the impact was louder than thunder. "I thought a bomb went off," she told the newspaper.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.
Source: Boston.com
