Pilots pulled from police helicopter after crashing on Newport Beach
PICTURED: 14-year veteran of the Huntington Beach police force who has died after helicopter crashed down on Newport Beach prompting frantic rescue: Another officer remains in critical condition
- A helicopter with the Huntington Beach Police Department crashed on Saturday evening on Newport Beach, California
- The helicopter crashed just after 6:30pm – there were two people onboard
- Nicholas Vella, 44, a 14-year veteran of the force, has died and another remains in critical condition
- Witnesses to the crash say the chopper was flying normally until it suddenly spiraled out of control
- Swimmers and police officers raced into the water after the splashdown and managed to pull both the pilots from the aircraft
- Both were transported to hospital with ‘moderate to serious injuries’ where one of the pilots later lost his life
Nicholas Vella, 44, a 14-year veteran of the force has died and another remains in critical condition
A 14-year veteran of the Huntington Beach Police Department has died after the helicopter he was in crashed down on Newport Beach, California, on Saturday evening.
Nicholas Vella, 44, died soon after being pulled from the wreckage. His co-pilot, a 16-year veteran, was in critical condition, Huntington Beach Police said at a 10 p.m. news conference.
‘The city of Huntington Beach, the residents of Huntington Beach, the Huntington Beach Police Department and the law enforcement community have lost an officer that was truly dedicated to his job,’ Chief Eric Parra said as he fought back tears.
‘He was doing what he loved doing.’
Parra said the helicopter was heading to a ‘disturbance fight call’ in Newport Beach at the time it came down.
The accident happened just after 6:30 p.m. local time, according to the Newport Beach Fire Department. The helicopter was visible between Lido Isle and the Balboa Peninsula and one of three that operate out of HBPD, all of which are turbine-powered.
Within moments of the helicopter crashing into the water, people nearby dashed in to help save the occupants.
Dramatic video footage from those standing close by saw a team of around five people rushing into the water, including a police officer who could be seen freeing one of pilots from the helicopter’s cab.
Although the aircraft came down close to the shoreline, it’s believed several minutes passed before rescuers were able to reach the two trapped occupants of the chopper.
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Police officer and helicopter pilot Nicholas Vella, 44, is pictured alongside his wife Kristi Tovar in a photograph from 2018 next to the departments helicopter
Dramatic footage shows one of the pilots that was inside the crashed helicopter being pulled out
Swimmers and police officers dashed into the water to save the two pilots that crashed
Swimmers could be seen on top of the aircraft’s cab as they desperately tried to reach those trapped inside
Several people waded into the waist high water to pull the two occupants from the aircraft
‘We lost an officer that was truly dedicated to his job, that was doing what he loved doing,’ said Huntington Beach Police Chief Eric Parra said as he fought back tears
‘We had people there instantaneously,’ said Newport Beach Police Chief Jon Lewis. ‘We had rescue personnel that consisted of police officers, firefighters and lifeguards.’
People could be seen on paddle boards as they headed into the water, which was at waist height.
Two other police officers could also be seen wading in as the pilots were quickly transported to an ambulance that was summoned to take them to a trauma center.
One of the pilots had been briefly trapped before being freed and being taken to UCI Medical Center in stable condition.
The second person from the helicopter, believed to the tactical flight officer, was also pulled from the helicopter by rescue swimmers and transported to OC Global Medical Center.
At the time, both occupants were said to have suffered ‘moderate to serious injuries’ as a result of the accident with one of them later losing his life.
At least five people could be seen helping to pull the pilots from the helicopter’s cab
The pilow was placed into a waiting ambulance to be taken to a local trauma center
A police helicopter could be seen submerged along the shoreline at Newport Beach, Saturday
The coastguard could be seen studying the situation. It’s believed two people were onboard
The helicopter landed close to the shoreline. The two who were onboard were taken to hospital
The helicopter could be seen in the Newport Bay waters between Lido Isle and Balboa Peninsula
Chief Parra said the department’s helicopters would now all be grounded for inspections.
‘We need to have the current aircraft inspected to make sure there’s nothing wrong… We’re going to pull those in – they won’t fly until we do the inspection,’ Parra said.
Huntington Beach Mayor Barbara Delgleize called the event ‘heartbreaking.’
‘Our community values our police department, and the loss of an officer hits us all really hard. This tragic accident serves as a reminder of the danger and the risk that our police officers put themselves in on a daily basis to protect our community,’ Delgleize said.
It was a team effort as a dive team, fire department crews and swimmers entered the water
The harbor patrol were also quickly on scene as they searched for survivors
Those standing on the beach appeared shellshocked by what they had just witnessed
As the helicopter came down, the pilot attempted to land it close to land
The chopper could be seen having overturned in the surf
There were plenty of eyewitnesses to the accident.
‘I witnessed the response to this and I can tell you I’ve never seen anything like it,’ wrote one user on Twitter.
‘They had no less than 30-40 units barricading streets and neighboring fire/rescue rolling through… in minutes. Lifeguards were there from the jump, I saw a total of four neighboring cities respond. I don’t think they could have done anything better. It was amazing.’
‘Witnessed the entire crash and they are heroes as you could tell they knew well in advance and were able to get away from hitting anyone! Hope they are ok!’ wrote Greg Bunker.
‘We were driving over here and we heard the pitch of the helicopter and it sounded like the helicopter was in distress. When we looked at the helicopter it was out of control. It was obvious the helicopter was gonna go down. It did go down, and almost immediately sunk,’ said another eyewitness to CBS News.
There were plenty of eyewitnesses to the accident who took to Twitter on Saturday night
Huntington Beach Police Department has confirmed a helicopter from the force crashed on Saturday evening in Newport Beach, California
The police department confirmed that one of their aircraft had crash landed
‘I was barbecuing over on 26th street. You could see a helicopter spiraling, looked like it was losing a little bit of control and it kind of went out of the line of sight but you could see it was going down and apparently crashed in the water over there,’ Joseph Thor told KTLA.
‘All of a sudden I hear something sputtering, really close,’ a woman who saw the helicopter told ABC7.
‘It didn’t sound like a regular helicopter. And somehow, he managed to get it into the bay to save everybody’s life, because if he had landed on a house, there would be a lot of casualties. I feel very fortunate right now.’
HBPD helicopters serve Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and the Costa Mesa areas.
The Huntington Beach Police Air Support Unit was formed in 1968.
Huntington Beach was the first city in Orange County and the fifth in the nation to use helicopters for public safety service, according to the city.
Huntington Beach Police helicopter pilots are pictured in a photo from last summer
Orange County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Ryan Anderson said that agency assisted, deploying resources to assist with a rescue.
The Newport Beach Fire Department and the Orange County Fire Authority also were on-scene.
The helicopter crash in California happened just hours after another helicopter crashed off Miami Beach, Florida.
The accident occurred in full view of beachgoers on Saturday afternoon. Two people were also hospitalized in that crash.
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