Investigators on Sunday worked to determine what caused a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department helicopter to crash one day earlier in the Angeles National Forest, injuring six people.
The helicopter Air Rescue 5 fell 200 feet around 5 p.m. PST, officials said, as it was responding to a car accident in the forest. On board were five deputies and a doctor from the University of California, Los Angeles, who was a ride-along, according to the Los Angeles Times.
All six passengers were airlifted to Pomona Valley Medical Center with multiple bone fractures and broken ribs, Sheriff Alex Villanueva told the Times.
The pilot is in critical condition, Los Angeles County Deputy Alejandra Parra said. Two passengers are in moderate condition and two others have minor injuries, according to Los Angeles County Fire Department Supervisor Miguel Ornelas.
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The Los Angeles County Firefighter Department eventually transported the injured civilian from the car rollover accident, Villanueva said.
“We don’t know if it was mechanical, environmental, what they call a brownout, a wind change, but as they were trying to descend … they suffered a hard landing and a rollover,” Villanueva said.
The cause of the crash isbeing investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration, according to Parra.
Contributing: The Associated Press
