FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A medical rescue helicopter caught hearth and broke aside shortly after takeoff Monday earlier than crashing into an condo advanced close to Fort Lauderdale, killing a paramedic captain on board and a resident on the bottom, authorities mentioned. Two others on board and two different folks on the condo advanced had been injured.
Broward County Fire-Rescue Capt. Terryson Jackson, 49, and a lady died when the Broward Sheriff’s Office helicopter crashed via the advanced’s roof after taking off from Pompano Beach Airpark at about 8:45 a.m., Sheriff Gregory Tony mentioned. He mentioned the 4 injured had been taken to the hospital and are anticipated to outlive.
“Terryson was a rock star, he was one of the best of us,” mentioned Tony, who additionally oversees the county’s hearth division. “He bled this profession inside and out all day long.”
The girl’s title was not launched as her household was being notified, Tony mentioned.
The three-member crew was heading to an emergency medical rescue to take the affected person to the hospital. A video posted on-line exhibits flames coming from the midsection of the helicopter as it’s trailed by an extended plume of smoke. The helicopter then seems to interrupt in half because it begins to spiral, plunging to the bottom. A video from one other angle confirmed that the helicopter’s blades weren’t turning quickly.
Tony mentioned that even because the crew members had been declaring a mayday to the airport’s management tower and making an attempt to avoid wasting their helicopter, they had been additionally radioing paramedics on the medical emergency to allow them to know they must take the affected person to the hospital.
“We are talking about the character of these men,” Tony mentioned. “As they were fighting for their lives, they were thinking about somebody else.”
Witness Brian Piggott instructed the South Florida Sun Sentinel that the helicopter started trailing smoke as quickly because it took off. It then misplaced altitude and crashed.
Victoria Walczak, who was contained in the condo constructing, mentioned the crash was louder than thunder.
“I thought a bomb went off,” she instructed the newspaper.
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