NTSB: Copter lost power before downtown crash-landing
A helicopter performed an emergency landing at Fort Street Mall and skidded out onto Fort St. at approximately 3:20 pm on Wednesday afternoon. The female pilot and male passenger were uninjured and no other people were reported harmed. Shown, firefighters work the wreckage site.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report on a helicopter’s crash-landing in downtown Honolulu says the engine suddenly lost power.
The NTSB report released this week says the engine lost power while the helicopter was over the Punchbowl area on May 8 so that the passenger could take aerial photographs. The report says that in response to the engine failure, the pilot maneuvered to land on a one-way street that had no wires in the flight path. The helicopter skidded into a parked car.
No one was badly injured.
The mechanic who owns the company that last worked on the helicopter has said it was his fault the engine lost power. Brant Swigart says he overlooked incorrect rigging that caused a mixture cable to snap.
The NTSB continues to investigate.
