Two helicopters collided midair while fighting fires in Southern California — causing one to crash and killing all three crew members aboard. The accident happened in Cabazon, about 90 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
The firefighting helicopters, both contracted by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, were responding to a blaze in a building that had spread to nearby grasslands when they collided, around 6 p.m. local time.
The cause of the collision was not immediately clear, Cal Fire’s southern region chief, David Fulcher,One aircraft was an “observer helicopter” coordinating the firefight. A Cal Fire division chief, a Cal Fire captain and a pilot were killed. The other aircraft, a water-dropping helicopter with two crew members aboard, was able to land safely nearby after the collision “without incident,” Fulcher said.The crash ignited a secondary fire that engulfed four acres before it was extinguished, Fulcher said.
“I would like to express our deepest sympathy to the family and co-workers of the personnel. This was a tragic loss,” Fulcher said without identifying the victims. “We have lost three great individuals. Three fathers, three husbands, three friends.”
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