Retired pilot who flew for LA news stations says Chatsworth helicopter appeared too low to recover
Veteran news pilot weighs in on deadly Chatsworth helicopter crash
Three people lost their lives in Tuesday's tragic Chatsworth helicopter crash. Former LA news pilot Kurt Deetz analyzes the helicopter's final live transmission and shares why flying too low leaves pilots with "zero margin for error".
LOS ANGELES - A retired news helicopter pilot who flew for nearly every television station in Los Angeles is offering his perspective on Tuesday's deadly helicopter crash in Chatsworth.
Kurt Deetz reviewed video of the helicopter's final live transmission and shared his read on what may have gone wrong in the moments before the crash.
What we know:
The reporter onboard the helicopter asks the pilot, "You can't pull up?" moments before the helicopter shakes and goes dark on the live transmission. Reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw were killed aboard the helicopter. A pedestrian on the ground was also killed.
In Deetz's opinion, it looks like the pilot lost engine power and immediately went into autorotation. He says when a helicopter loses engine power, which is rare, the right move is to put it into autorotation, and he believes that's exactly what the pilot did. But Deetz says something appeared to go wrong at the end of the autorotation.
When asked how much time the pilot had from that point, Deetz said "seconds." He says it was seconds because the helicopter appeared to be flying too low to recover, and too low to give the pilot a choice in where to land.
RELATED:
- Audio evidence key as NTSB probes fatal Chatsworth news helicopter crash
- Chatsworth helicopter crash: 3 killed, including NBCLA pilot and aerial reporter
What they're saying:
In Deetz’s opinion, helicopters covering breaking news should always stay high. The FAA currently only allows choppers to fly as low as 1,000 feet in urban areas and Deetz says there’s no need to go any lower than that since today's cameras are so powerful with their zoom.
NTSB, FAA investigating Chatsworth helicopter crash
Federal authorities provided an update as they begin their investigation in the helicopter crash that left three dead, including NBCLA aerial reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw.
What's next:
The NTSB has not released the cause of the crash. Investigators say they'll be reviewing that same final transmission, along with the wreckage, as part of their investigation, a process that could take months.
The Source: Information for this story came from an interview with Kurt Deetz.