The Huntington Beach Police Department Air Support Unit serves that city as well as Newport Beach and Costa Mesa under contracts with those cities. Officer Vella, a 14-year veteran with the Huntington Beach police department was killed in a helicopter crash in Newport Beach. A white van, at right, carrying the body of Huntington Beach police officer Nicholas Vella, 44, follows a police procession as it leaves the Orange County Medical Center in route to the Orange County Coroner’s office in Santa Ana on Saturday, February 19, 2022. “Keep me advised, please,” the controller said.
“That’s where we’re headed right now,” the second helicopter pilot said.Ī few moments later, the pilot radioed back to the control tower, saying “appears (the helicopter) did go down in the water.” “Are you able to precede down there and take a look please?” “We did have (the Huntington Beach helicopter), we lost radar contact along the shoreline,” the air traffic controller said according to audio of the calls. Moments after the crash, an air traffic controller at John Wayne Airport radioed a police helicopter headed to Huntington Beach. The National Transportation Safety Board and an accident-reconstruction team with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department are investigating what made the helicopter plunge into the water. Police have not said which of the two men, both certified pilots, was at the helm at the time.
0 kommentar(er)
