LOS ANGELES -- Six police personnel received minor injuries when two Pasadena police helicopters were involved in a crash Saturday afternoon.
A police official on scene said that one chopper had clipped another while one was landing and the other taking off.
The incident occurred at 4:10 p.m. at the Pasadena Police Department's helipad at 2175 Yucca Lane in Altadena (map), about 1 1/2 miles north of the Rose Bowl.
The collision involved a police patrol chopper and a helicopter assigned to monitor traffic leaving a football game at the Rose Bowl, where crosstown rivals UCLA and USC met at the stadium for the first time since 2010.
Five officers were being transported to a hospital with minor injuries, officials said. Police at one point said there had been six people injured; that was amended to five and then upgraded to six.
"We have five people that were transported, all with a complaint of pain," a Pasadena police spokeswoman said. "It would appear at this point that there are no major injuries to our people."
Two pilots, three observers and an officer on the ground suffered non-life threatening injuries, authorities said.
Neighbors said they heard a loud explosion after the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
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Damn! Hope they all ok.
Pull over please..no you pull over please..no you pull over god damm it...no you pull over..pull over or your in trouble..no you pull over or your in trouble..CRASH..oh chit was that you Joe in that other copter?
Klansman, you are a world class @sshole!
Wonder if they have any video. I'm sure there are some pretty expensive federally granted security systems protecting the police helicopters from, you know, terrorists. The NTSB will not take kindly to it if those recordings were to be misplaced, or erased. They are evidence in a federal investigation after all.
America's Stupidest Videos or someone should file a Freedom of Information Act request for them.
Two helicopters and 6 policemen to monitor traffic after a football game. WTF, I don't live there but I can tell them exactly what traffic will be like without 2 helicopters. Traffic is going to be heavy. No wonder these towns in California are going broke.
Only one copter was assigned to traffic - the other (as stated) was a patrol copter; they do things like look for lost children. When I lived in Mesa Arizona there was a patrol copter over our apartment complex several times a week (they checked me out going to the mailbox once, profiling us long-hairs...lol), more than once it was announcing to look for a lost child or a suspect in the area...gotta love big cities.
Common, did you ever think that just maybe monitoring traffic might mean looking for bottlenecks and accidents so traffic can be rerouted and emergency vehicles can get to the scene as quickly as possible and everyone can get home in a reasonable time?
Swine can't fly...karma is a mf
Everyone knew this was eventually coming...the skies over LA are so crowded with helicopters that this was inevitable !! Wonder which one got the ticket for the 'traffic violation'?
they all could have ended up as "BACON BITS" if they got caught up in the rotors of both choppers ! i bet none of them little piggys will"squeal" on eachother and the blue wall of silence will prevail
Who What When Where How and Why. And very little follow up. These are the things that tell me we are being dumbed down by the media/govt.
Who was taking off, who was landing, who saw it, where's the description of the injuries? How could something like this happen? Who was in charge, what were the names of the pilots and passengers. What did the people on the ground see?
Arent you as tired of this kind of reporting as I am?
Klansman banned for death trolling all police officers.
Glad no one was seriously hurt, but...................how hard can it be? And I'm not referring to the difficulty in actually flying a helicopter, (ridding a bike while juggling comes to mind), but rather the close proximity of both aircraft.
Hate comments start your engines
If I had to guess, I'd say the landing helo didn't wait for the one taking off to clear the area, but really there's no information. Maybe a strong wind blew one into the other.
Yeah, one 'copter was assigned to monitor traffic leaving the Rose Bowl. Thousands of cars there. But only two helicopters in the air, and they crash. I agree with #13 below. Drug and alcohol tests should be required for all involved.
It depends on a lot of factors. Two helicopters using a small pad can generate air currents that create turbulence enough to jostle on of them off course slightly. The other issue is the control reaction time. Some helicopters respond to control inputs quicker than other helicopters. The other factor would be a wind gust during a critical point in landing or takeoff. If you get hit by a strong enough gust at a certain point, you will need larger control inputs to correct the course drift than at other times. You might over-correct and hit the other helicopter. There are plenty of videos on the World Wide Web showing two helicopters flying too closely and having the main rotor of one collide with the main rotor of the other. All it takes is a few inches of rotor tip damage on one rotor blade to cause a helicopter to crash.
COinFL, it is required and the NTSB will be all over this, just like they are over any aircraft accident.
Cops run into each other in parking lots, so why not on helipads..........
now maybe they will quit flying over my house
Probably. Cant fly broke choppers.
looks like the tax payers will get screwed on this one,bet the police dept will botch the accident reports to make the other police pilot resposible for the accident !
The FAA will do the accident report. The police may do an internal investigation. There are guidelines set in place to ensure these things don't happen. It will end up Human Error. Those injured will be paid handsomely for their dilemma.
Lol, guidelines. Since when have the police or the government for that matter ever followed those guidelines?
The vast majority of helicopter pilots follow those guidelines every day and every night. I would say that helicopter pilots are more aware than pilots of of similar sized fixed wing aircraft of the limitations of the aircraft they operate. A helicopter that is running is also trying to crash. No helicopter is described as having docile handling characteristics. You read that stuff about Cessna 172s, not helicopters. Helicopter pilots are always actively controlling the craft, if they do not have one of those really expensive autopilots to help. Only a small percentage of helicopters have autopilots. But even with all that training and attention, things can go wrong.
Glad they survived their stupid stunt, now who is going to pay for the Helicopters
Three guesses!!!
What stupid stunt?
"What we have hear is a failure to communicate"!
looks like those coppers can't fly those choppers :P
I've seen dumber accidents (and yes, I flew helicopters in the Army).
Wonder if their last words before the rotor strike were "watch this?"
Glad no one was hurt seriously. I am sure that will call for more taxes to replace copters and hire more cops.
I think they need some more windows in those helicopters. The pilot can't hardly see out.
You know what they say; when pigs fly. See, pigs don't fly and shouldn't try.
ok, who gives who a ticket for this accident? seems teh faa needs to step in on this one and issue a citation! maybe a suspension of a pilots license?
All aviation accidents are investigated by the NTSB. They issue a report on the cause and it's up to the FAA to take action if warranted.
all involved need to be taken in for drug and alcohol testing!!!!!
Never happen they take care of their own.
Not going to come down to a police matter, smartbass. The NTSB will handle this. That "take care of their own" crap won't affect the outcome.
Drug and alcohol tests are required.
I think they have just learned you cannot have two helicopters in the same air space at the same time.
actually they just proved you can.....kinda tough on the equipment though.......
If you want to fly like a bunch of cowboys you gotta expect some crashes. DNIF the pilots, they just cost the taxpayer millions of dollars.
Yeah, don't bother to find out what actually happened first.
I guess they don't call them choppers for nothing .
They were lucky this time .
I't is all about your knowing how and where to apply your focus well guess something was lacking but, main thing no one was killed.
These rogue cops couldn't find anybody to taze so they decided to play bump the copters.
DEMOLITION CHOPPERS ? hmmmmm...
GOOD
LOL!!!
Hot Doggin' YAHOOS! Take it outta THIER phuquin' pay!!
You're so funny........... NOT! What are you, 25 years old, or just stupid ?
I used to live in Orange Co.Now,San Francisco,So nice to not hear them Buzzing the hood,like in Socal.
1984
Flying and donuts don't mix!
did they give the pilots a ticket