06/03/2010 // West Palm Beach, Florida, USA // Sandra Quinlan // Sandra Quinlan
Spokane Valley, WA—A student pilot was tragically killed in a helicopter crash Wednesday June 2, 2010. The deadly chopper accident occurred in close proximity to Spokane Valley’s Felts Field Airport (SFF), according to information provided by KXLY.com.
An unidentified student was piloting a two-seater Robinson R22 when the chopper went down for unknown reasons. The helicopter was reportedly returning from a solo flight and was en route to Felts Field when the aviation accident occurred, according to Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Dave Reagan.
Witness Stacia Gillaspy stated, “I first noticed the sound because it sounded like the motor was cutting in and out and then I looked up and it looked like he was just spinning around out of control.”
Tom Sergeant, another crash witness, noted, “Actually I saw parts of the blade come apart and fall out of the sky is basically what happened… Then it turned like this and just went straight down. There was a boom right after that.”
Sergeant notified police officials and then ran to the scene with several other bystanders. However, “It wasn’t good… as far as we could tell there was no pulse and he died instantly I would say. It was pretty bad,” Sergeant added. The pilot was the only person occupying the chopper at the time.
The aircraft allegedly split into two during the accident. The tail section reportedly landed in a residential yard while the rest of the airframe crashed in the road several meters away. The scene of the helicopter wreck was located east of Felts Field.
The chopper is under ownership by Inland Helicopters, which confirmed that one of its helicopters was indeed involved in a crash.
Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were expected to conduct a full probe into the fatal helicopter accident.
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