Heliport
9th Feb 2006, 06:59
Excerpt from San Diego Tribune report
3 die as plane, helicopter collide in fireballs over El Cajon
EL CAJON – Three people died when a small plane and helicopter collided in fireballs Wednesday near near El Cajon's Gillespie Field.
Witnesses reported seeing two bodies on the ground, believed to be from the helicopter. A third body was reported elsewhere, believed from the plane. Authorities confirmed three dead in the collision around 4:40 p.m., and said no injuries on the ground were reported.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/images/060208planefire280.jpg
The burning wreckage of a plane falls from the sky in this image shot by a resident from his back yard west of Harry Griffen Park.
Part of a burning wing fell onto the roof and then into the front yard of a house, igniting the roof and attic, said El Cajon Fire Chief Mike Scott. The house was unoccupied, and firefighters extinguished the flames.
The bulk of the helicopter fell, burning, into Harry Griffen Park in bordering La Mesa, where firefighters quickly extinguished the flames, he said.
A piece of wreckage that appeared to be part of a fuselage came to rest in the back yard of a home on Live Oak.Other debris from the incident appeared scattered over a half-mile-square area of El Cajon and La Mesa, 1½ miles south of Gillespie Field, a general aviation airport.
One aircraft involved in the collision was reported by knowledgeable witnesses to be a Robinson R22, a small helicopter commonly used for flight training and photography.
“I happened to look up and saw two balls of fire,” said Rod Jeter, a real estate broker who was driving nearby at the time of the collision. “I didn't see an explosion, first I thought maybe it was somebody's (toy) rocket, but then I said that's too big to be somebody's (toy),” Jeter said. “That's it, they both fell. The bigger one, I think, was the helicopter. They were already on fire before they hit (the ground). I've never seen anything like that before.”
Joe Delacruz was in the back yard of a friend's house on Hawthorne when the sound of a plane “popping, backfiring,” caused them to turn around and look up. “It sounded like the plane was sputtering, like it was having a hard time flying,” Delacruz said. The two then witnessed the collision. “I looked up and I saw the wing and the bulk of the aircraft coming down in flames,” Delacruz said. He said he also saw what appeared to be the bubble portion of the helicopter cockpit falling from the sky.
Another witness, a Grossmont High student, told reporters he watched part of an aircraft – which he took to be a helicopter – hit the ground, saw someone inside the wreckage and realized that person could not have survived.
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3 die as plane, helicopter collide in fireballs over El Cajon
EL CAJON – Three people died when a small plane and helicopter collided in fireballs Wednesday near near El Cajon's Gillespie Field.
Witnesses reported seeing two bodies on the ground, believed to be from the helicopter. A third body was reported elsewhere, believed from the plane. Authorities confirmed three dead in the collision around 4:40 p.m., and said no injuries on the ground were reported.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/images/060208planefire280.jpg
The burning wreckage of a plane falls from the sky in this image shot by a resident from his back yard west of Harry Griffen Park.
Part of a burning wing fell onto the roof and then into the front yard of a house, igniting the roof and attic, said El Cajon Fire Chief Mike Scott. The house was unoccupied, and firefighters extinguished the flames.
The bulk of the helicopter fell, burning, into Harry Griffen Park in bordering La Mesa, where firefighters quickly extinguished the flames, he said.
A piece of wreckage that appeared to be part of a fuselage came to rest in the back yard of a home on Live Oak.Other debris from the incident appeared scattered over a half-mile-square area of El Cajon and La Mesa, 1½ miles south of Gillespie Field, a general aviation airport.
One aircraft involved in the collision was reported by knowledgeable witnesses to be a Robinson R22, a small helicopter commonly used for flight training and photography.
“I happened to look up and saw two balls of fire,” said Rod Jeter, a real estate broker who was driving nearby at the time of the collision. “I didn't see an explosion, first I thought maybe it was somebody's (toy) rocket, but then I said that's too big to be somebody's (toy),” Jeter said. “That's it, they both fell. The bigger one, I think, was the helicopter. They were already on fire before they hit (the ground). I've never seen anything like that before.”
Joe Delacruz was in the back yard of a friend's house on Hawthorne when the sound of a plane “popping, backfiring,” caused them to turn around and look up. “It sounded like the plane was sputtering, like it was having a hard time flying,” Delacruz said. The two then witnessed the collision. “I looked up and I saw the wing and the bulk of the aircraft coming down in flames,” Delacruz said. He said he also saw what appeared to be the bubble portion of the helicopter cockpit falling from the sky.
Another witness, a Grossmont High student, told reporters he watched part of an aircraft – which he took to be a helicopter – hit the ground, saw someone inside the wreckage and realized that person could not have survived.
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