CRASH BLAMED ON BROKEN ROTOR; FIRE OFFICIALS REPORT ON COPTER FATALITIES.Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer The crash of a Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), also known as the Los Angeles City Fire Department to distinguish it from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. It is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles. helicopter, killing three people in March, occurred because a rear rotor broke off, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a report released Wednesday. The National Transportation Safety Board has not completed its investigation into why the rotor failed. The helicopter was transporting a Sun Valley girl to a Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. hospital when it began to malfunction. As pilot Steven Robinson searched for open space to land amid the rugged terrain of Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large public park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains. It is situated in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park covers 4,210 acres (17 km²) of land, making it one of the largest urban parks in North America. , the helicopter became uncontrollable, according to the report presented to the city Fire Commission. ``I think we may have lost the tail rotor Noun 1. tail rotor - rotor consisting of a rotating airfoil on the tail of a single-rotor helicopter; keeps the helicopter from spinning in the direction opposite to the rotation of the main rotor anti-torque rotor ,'' Robinson told his crew. The helicopter's main rotor struck trees as high as 97 feet, shearing 6 feet of the rotor, twisting the aircraft onto its left side and tossing the occupants around inside the cabin, the report says. ``The impact resulted in the sudden death of the two (firefighter-paramedics) and one crew member and the patient,'' the report said. Killed were Michael Butler, Eric Reiner, Michael McComb and Norma Vides-Anaya, the girl being transported to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles from the Sun Valley area where she had been in an automobile crash. Robinson and Firefighter Dennis Sligen were seriously injured. ``They were thrown around like rocks inside a tin can,'' said Ken Buzzell, president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles. ``This was an accident that was survivable sur·viv·a·ble adj. 1. Capable of surviving: survivable organisms in a hostile environment. 2. That can be survived: a survivable, but very serious, illness. ,'' Buzzell said. ``The pilot and a firefighter survived. The others could have as well.'' Fire Chief Bill Bamattre said he was not prepared to conclude whether the incident was survivable until the National Transportation Safety Board completes its review of the crash. ``No one knows if these people could have survived it,'' Bamattre said. That NTSB NTSB abbr. National Transportation Safety Board report is expected within the next several weeks, officials said. The aircraft typically was not used for transporting injured people and was not outfitted with emergency medical equipment or tie-downs for a stretcher. Buzzell said he was concerned the department has taken no action since the crash to install better restraining devices. Bamattre said firefighters attempted to adapt the craft to take on a passenger by moving seats around and strapping Vides-Anaya's stretcher down. Since then, the department has determined that it will use only air ambulances to transfer people, even if it needs to call on the Los Angeles County Fire Department Not to be confused with Los Angeles Fire Department. The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD), serves unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County, as well as 58 cities and towns that choose to have the county provide fire and EMS services, including the City of La . The report also raised questions for Clark Aristei, an attorney representing the families of the firefighters who perished in the crash. ``We have questions why a failed rotor was used on this aircraft and how it could pass inspections,'' Aristei said. The Vides-Anaya family has filed wrongful-death claims of $22.5 million against the city. The LAFD LAFD Los Angeles Fire Department LAFD Los Alamos Fire Department LAFD London Association of Funeral Directors (UK) report said the aircraft was routinely inspected before it went out that morning and had passed more rigorous tests earlier. |
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