LA County Sheriff Department's plane crashes into national forest injuring 5
Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
- A Los Angeles Sheriff's Department helicopter crashed in the Angeles National Forest.
- Five people were injured and airlifted to the Pomona Valley Medical Center.
- One passenger is in critical condition, two are in moderate condition, and two have minor injuries
AZUSA, Calif. (AP) — Five people were injured Saturday afternoon after a Los Angeles Sheriff's Department helicopter crashed in the Angeles National Forest near Azusa, the LA County Fire Department said.
All five passengers were airlifted to Pomona Valley Medical Center, Sheriff Alex Villanueva told The Los Angeles Times. One of the passengers is in critical condition, two are in moderate condition and two others have minor injuries, he said.
The crash occurred at 4:58 p.m. near the San Gabriel Reservoir, which is near Highway 39 and East Fork Road near Azusa.
The Los Angeles Times reported that 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 told the Times.
The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into the crash, spokesman Eric Weiss said.