2 dead in helicopter crash near Seattle Space Needle

Updated: 2014-03-19 11:46

(Agencies)

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2 dead in helicopter crash near Seattle Space Needle

KOMO news photographer Peter Mongillo gets a hug while covering the crash of his own news station's helicopter, which killed KOMO news photographer Bill Strothman and pilot Gary Fitzner near the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington March 18, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

Of the people who were in the vehicles that burned in the crash, a man in his late 30s who escaped his car was hospitalized.

The fire department said he was initially listed in critical condition, but a hospital spokeswoman later said he had been upgraded to serious condition with burns over 20 percent of his body.

A woman who escaped a second car that burned after the crash had made her way to a police station and appeared to be in good shape, and the driver of a pickup truck scorched at the scene walked away unharmed, officials said.

City officials will review regulations for helipads, the mayor said.

The Space Needle and the Seattle Monorail, which runs near the crash scene and connects a downtown shopping mall to the Seattle Center tourist complex, were shut down to prevent people from looking down at the bodies, Murray said.

The National Transportation Safety Board, whose investigators were at the scene, planned to clear the wreckage by Tuesday evening and issue a preliminary report in five days, said Dennis Hogenson, acting deputy NTSB chief for the western Pacific region.

"We're looking at the environment, the weather, the pilot, the operators in the helicopter, as well as the helicopter itself, as well as the background of all of the above," he said.

The helicopter, a 2003 Eurocopter AS350, appeared to have rotated counterclockwise before it crashed, he said. He added that the helicopter had been flown on Tuesday morning and was brought back to the downtown area to refuel.

After less than 30 minutes on the helipad, the pilot attempted the ill-fated takeoff, Hogenson said.

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