Two dead, one hurt after KOMO TV news helicopter crashes in Seattle near Space Needle
Two people are dead after a Seattle news helicopter plummeted from the sky Tuesday morning and crashed into two cars, exploding in a massive fireball just feet from the city’s distinctive Space Needle, the city’s fire department said.
Seattle resident Richard Newman, 38, pulled himself from his car after suffering burns on 20% of his assets. His condition was upgraded from critical to serious condition after his arrival at Harborview Medical Center’s intensive care unit, hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg confirmed.
News station KOMO said the helicopter was being leased by their station and KING5 news when it crashed around 7:40 a.m. PDT.
A news helicopter crashed near the Space Needle in Seattle early Tuesday.
They identified the fatalities as long-time, Emmy-award winning photographer Bill Strothman and pilot Gary Pfitzner.
Strothman’s son, Dan Strothman, is also a KOMO videojournalist.
Pilot Gary Pfitzner, who was killed in Tuesday’s crash, is seen next to the KOMO news helicopter in this undated photograph after providing a friend’s daughter and her friends a rail.
While mystery still surrounds the cause of the crash, with a preliminary report not expected for the next several days, there have already been some reports of it appearing to malfunction moments before going down.
“We have a witness report that said shortly after liftoff the helicopter did begin to rotate,” Dennis Hogenson, the National Transportation Board’s acting deputy chief of the western pacific region, said at an afternoon press conference.
Longtime KOMO photographer Bill Strothman was also killed in the crash.
“We have witness accounts that there was an unusual noise coming from the helicopter at the time of its departure,” he added.
Hogenson identified the aircraft as a Eurocopter AS350 made in 2003.
Burned vehicles are seen adjacent to the wreckage of a news helicopter, which crashed into a city street near the Space Needle on Tuesday.
He described it as “relatively fresh” and a “popular” helicopter.
The remains of the aircraft were expected to be taken to the Auburn Airport hangar for a closer examination into the cause of the crash.
Pilot Gary Pfitzner died Tuesday when a helicopter nosedived into a Seattle roadway.
Photos of the scene demonstrated black smoke billowing up from the flamy crash around 7:40 a.m. on the west coast. Three vehicles on Broad Street were on fire when the fire department arrived on scene.
Helicopter pilot Gary Pfitzner was one of two people killed when KOMO-TV’s helicopter, operated by Pfitzner, crashed into a city street near Seattle’s Space Needle on Tuesday morning.
The FAA told NBC News the helicopter was taking off from a downtown helipad on the fifth floor roof of the KOMO studios near Fisher Plaza when the aircraft went down.
One man reportedly ran from one of the bruised cars with his sleeve on fire, and fuel running from the wrecked copter created a streak of flames along the road, KOMO reported.
At least two vehicles were consumed by flames in the crash.
A man who was driving a silver truck and very first reported missing from the scene has since been found and is uninjured, according to the Seattle Fire Department.
A woman in a blue vehicle also left the scene not gravely injured and went to a local police precinct to be interviewed, Seattle Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore said at a morning press conference.
Only the tail end of the KOMO TV news helicopter remained after the inferno.
The two dead were inwards the helicopter. Their figures remained at the scene, covered by a white tent. Only the tail end of the copter was still visible at the site of the crash at Broad St. near 5th Ave.
The NTSB has been notified of the crash and is now investigating, Moore said.
A massive plume of black smoke rose over Seattle near the famed Space Needle.
I wish to send my genuine condolences to @komonews and to all those who lost loved ones.
A construction worker at a nearby work site told KCPQ-TV that he spotted the helicopter make one “swoop,” then go nose down into the roadway.
Fisher Plaza rests inbetween the crash and the Space Needle.
Another witness told the news station she witnessed the helicopter take off and stutter in the air before crashing to the ground and exploding.
Chris McColgan, 26, was stopped at a traffic light just two cars ahead of where the helicopter plummeted to the ground, he told the Seattle Times.
Authorities say at least two people were found dead at the scene.
“It just blew up instantly,” McColgan told the newspaper. “The crazy thing is, the movies get it exactly right. It’s that big … It felt like a movie. It still feels like a movie.”
The fire has since been put out. The Space Needle is closed for the day.