The tail rotor of a Broward Sheriff’s Workplace Hearth-Rescue helicopter is seen within the yard of a house after crashing on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, close to Fort Lauderdale. Fla. Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Solar-Sentinel through AP
By TERRY SPENCER, Related Press
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A medical rescue helicopter caught fireplace 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 stated.
Two others on board and two different individuals on the condo advanced had been injured.
Broward County Hearth-Rescue Capt. Terryson Jackson, 49, and a girl died when the Broward Sheriff’s Workplace helicopter crashed by way of the advanced’s roof after taking off from Pompano Seaside Airpark at about 8:45 a.m., Sheriff Gregory Tony stated. He stated the 4 injured had been taken to the hospital and are anticipated to outlive.
Jackson was a 19-year veteran of the division.
“Terryson was a rock star, he was probably the greatest of us,” stated Tony, who additionally oversees the county’s fireplace division. “He bled this career in and out all day lengthy.”
The injured firefighters are pilot Daron Roche, 37, and Mike Chaguaceda, 31.
The lifeless lady’s identify was not launched as her household was being notified, Tony stated.
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 a protracted 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 stated that even because the crew members had been declaring a mayday to the airport’s management tower and making an attempt to save lots of 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’re speaking in regards to the character of those males,” Tony stated. “As they had been combating for his or her lives, they had been fascinated by anyone else.”
Witness Brian Piggott informed the South Florida Solar 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, stated the crash was louder than thunder.
“I believed a bomb went off,” she informed the newspaper.
The Nationwide Transportation Security Board is investigating the crash.
