SALVAGE crews were working to recover a crashed helicopter from a lake when they found a second chopper in the water this week. Video shows one of the helicopters, submerged and upside down, after the first crash was reported on Tuesday morning. Rescuers rushed to Lake Apopka, located roughly 24 miles from Orlando, Florida, at […]
SALVAGE crews were working to recover a crashed helicopter from a lake when they found a second chopper in the water this week.
Video shows one of the helicopters, submerged and upside down, after the first crash was reported on Tuesday morning.
Rescuers rushed to Lake Apopka, located roughly 24 miles from Orlando, Florida, at 9.15am.
“I’m pretty sure one helicopter just went down in the water,” a 911 caller told a dispatcher.
The pilot, the only person on the aircraft, was brought to shore by a boater who was in the area, investigators said.
As crews were working to recover the wreckage on Wednesday morning, they came across a second chopper in the water.
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Deputies with Orange County Fire Rescue said the second helicopter also went down on Tuesday, crashing into the lake around 6.45pm.
As the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board began investigating, footage showed one of the helicopters being pulled from the water.
It was missing its tail and the roof was mangled.
On Thursday, the owner of the helicopters revealed what he claimed led to the back-to-back crashes.
Greg Clubbs told local NBC affiliate WESH that both pilots were flying low, spraying the lake with herbicide to combat the spread of invasive plants.
The lake was calm, which created a mirror effect in the water, Clubbs said. The reflection threw off the pilots’ depth perception and caused them to crash into the lake, according to him.
Hearing about two crashes involving helicopters on the same day, at the same lake, came as a surprise to locals.
“I’ve lived on this lake for 30 years and we’ve never had anything like this,” neighbor Lester Bailey said.
“Kind of weird.”
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Clubbs said that the company, Coastal Helicopters, has been in business for 45 years.
He said that they’ve seen only one previous accident, which he classified as minor.
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