LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles County sheriff’s helicopter has crash-landed in the Azusa-Glendora area with five passengers on board.
All five passengers have been rescued and are being airlifted to Pomona Valley Medical Center, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said. One of the passengers is in critical condition, two are in moderate condition and two others have minor injuries, he said.
Some of the passengers were seen walking into the hospital, though they appeared to be in pain, NBC4 reported.
The crash occurred on Route 39 in the Azusa area.
The green Air Rescue 5 helicopter was responding to a call for service in the area at the time of the crash. The San Dimas station received a call that a helicopter went down at 4:58 p.m., the sheriff’s department said.
The damaged aircraft is now lying on its side in Azusa Canyon near the San Gabriel Dam. Multiple emergency vehicles are at the scene.
The rescue helicopter makes hundreds of flights annually into some of the toughest terrain, often flying into narrow canyons and dealing with difficult topography.
The helicopter crew has “saved thousands of lives over the years,” Villanueva said.
In February, a Huntington Beach police helicopter crashed in Newport Harbor near the Lido Peninsula, killing passenger Nicholas Vella, a 14-year veteran of the Huntington Beach Police Department. The pilot in that crash sustained minor injuries.
