Sister stations KCAL9 and CBS2 report that engine failure forced the hard landing about 8 a.m. Friday at Whiteman Airpark in the Pacoima.
Pilot Derek Bell says that as soon as the Eurocopter's engine began to fail he began autorotation and quickly brought the craft known as Sky 9 back to the airfield.
The helicopter's tail struck the ground and broke off but the craft landed upright on its skids.
Video of the November 09, 2010 missile launch from 35 miles off of the Los Angeles coastline.
Video shot by a KCBS/KCAL Cameraman Gil Leyvas from a news helicopter in Los Angeles that shows an object shooting across the sky and leaving a large contrail, or vapor trail, over the Pacific Ocean. Pentagon can't, or wont, Explain 'Missile' Off California Coast.
"Whatever it was, it was spinning up into the sky kind of like a spiral," and was easy to distinguish from condensation trails from jets, he said. "It was quite a sight to see. It was spectacular" said the cameraman.
The FAA has said that no aircraft were in that airspace at the time.
Tactical Flight Deputy Clint Hughes of the Los Angeles Sheriff Department's Aero Bureau gives a tour of his patrol operations helicopter, an American Eurocopter AS350B2 "ASTAR", N971SD, one of twelve that the department has.
These Helicopters run 24 hours a day in three hour rotating shifts. The crews fly two 3-hour hops during their 10 hour shifts.
LAPD Hooper Heliport
General Type: Heliport, Status: Operational, Acivation Date: 01/01/1978, Runways: 1, Ownership: Publicly owned, Facility Use: Private, Site Number: 01817.14*H, Location ID: 4CA0, Region: Western-Pacific, District Office: LAX,
Unicom Frequency: 123.075 mHz,
Aeronautical sectional chart: Los Angeles, Tie-In FSS: No, Tie-In FSS ID: HHR,
Tie-In FSS Name: Hawthorne,
Tie-In FSS Toll-Free Number: 1-800-WX-BRIEF,
Elevation: 302 ft, Elevation determination method: Estimated, Air traffic control tower: No, Boundary ARTCC (FAA) computer ID: ZCL, Boundary ARTCC ID: ZLA, Boundary ARTCC Name: Los Angeles, Airspace Determination: Conditional, NOTAM Service: No, Inspection Group: Owner, Inspection Method: 5010-2 Private use mail out program
Location State: California, County: Los Angeles, City: Los Angeles, GPS (Degrees): Lat: 34° 02' 36.044'', Lng: -118° 14' 49.265'', GPS (Seconds): Lat: 34.043346, Lng: -118.247018, GPS determination method: Estimated, Distance from central business district: 1 mi (SW), Find on map >>
Owner City Of Los Angeles, 555 Ramirez St, Space 475, Los Angeles, Ca 90012, 213-485-2011 Manager C.O.-Air Support Div-Lapd, 150 N. Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles, Ca 90012, 213-485-2600
Schedule
Aircraft Helicopters:
Additional Magnetic Variation: 14E (Year 1985), Non-Commercial Landing Fee: No, Wind direction indicator: Yes, Segmented circle airport marker system: No
Remarks Airspace Determination: VFR ONLY.
Runway 1
General ID: 'H1, Length: 205 ft, Width: 105 ft, Runway Surface Type Condition: Portland cement concrete
American Airlines flight #31 bound for Honolulu made an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport August 5, 2008 at 9:30AM Local Time.
All passengers and crew managed to escape safely via the emergency inflatable slides.
Two minor injuries were reported among the seven crew members and 150 passengers on board.
At the same time an Emirates Airbus A380 was in-bound for landing to continue its tour around the world. LAX air traffic control refers to the Emirates A380 as "Emirates Super" in the Live ATC transmission.
