Two police officers, who were looking for a missing 9-year-old boy, died when their helicopter crazed on Sunday.
Fox 5 reports that Ralph Hicks, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said they will be receiving assistance for aviation industry experts to rule out mechanical problems.
Witnesses say they saw a flash of light from what they believed was the helicopter hitting a power pole and cables and a second flash of light was seen when the helicopter hit the ground.
As a result of the impact, the cockpit was engulfed in flames. The helicopter did not have a flight data recorder but they are looking at the GPS system which may have recorded data.
According to CNN, 1,300 Georgia Power customers lost power. John Kraft the electric company spokesman said, “We believe the outage is because of the helicopter crash. I don’t know specifics of what happened in that crash. We believe it is a result of the helicopter coming in contact with the lines at some point.”
There were no injuries on the ground. The 9-year-old boy had been located and as of Sunday night was in police custody.
Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed said in a statement, ”I am deeply saddened by the terrible accident that claimed the lives of two on-duty Atlanta Police Department officers. We mourn these two brave men and offer our deepest condolences to their families and loved ones. We also pause to extend our sympathy to the men and women of the police department who place their lives in harm’s way every day to keep our city safe, and who especially feel the pain of this loss.”
https://tothecenter.com/2012/11/two-atlanta-police-officers-killed-when-their-helicopter-crashed/
