Two dead after news helicopter crash in Seattle
Posted March 18, 2014 12:15 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SEATTLE (NEWS1130) – Two people are dead after the KOMO News helicopter crashed this morning in downtown Seattle.
The chopper went down at around 7:30 a.m., just a few feet from the iconic Space Needle at Seattle Center.
KOMO says the helicopter was apparently taking off from its rooftop this morning when it possibly hit the side of the building and went down, hitting several vehicles on Broad Street.
The two people who were killed were found in the wreckage.
The news station has identified them as camera operator Bill Strothman and pilot Gary Pfitzner.
Police say at least one car was hit; three caught fire. A 38-year-old man from one of the cars was taken to hospital with critical injuries. He has burns on roughly 20 per cent of his body. His status has been upgraded from critical to serious condition.
Steve Jackson witnessed the event.
“It was almost straight up and then it started rotating very rapidly. And then it literally fell to the ground after that,” he describes.
“I just heard a muffled pop prior to the helicopter appearing nose-up and tail-down and then turned to this very rapid rotation,” he adds.
According to KOMO News, one man could be seen running from one of the cars with his sleeve on fire; the flames were extinguished by officers on scene.
Flames and plumes of smoke poured from the burning wreckage. Fuel from the wreckage caught fire and burned for about a block from the crash scene. Firefighters were able to put the flames out by about 8 a.m.
