Shocking surveillance video captured the moment a helicopter spiraled out of control and crashed onto a suburban neighborhood in California, injuring its two occupants.
The footage from the Ring camera shows the chopper slamming into the ground near a home on East Garrett Avenue in Fresno shortly before 10 a.m. Saturday, according to KMPH.
On its way down, the helicopter appeared to clip the edge of a house before shearing off the top of a palm tree.
No one in the home was hurt in the mishap but the structure sustained minor damage, police Lt. Charlie Chamalbide told the Fresno Bee.
The 47-year-old pilot and a 33-year-old passenger, both men, were taken to Community Regional Medical Center with minor injuries, according to the newspaper.
“They were both conscious and breathing and talking to us,” Chamalbide told the Bee. “It’s very lucky that nothing else was damaged or anybody was injured.”
The two men told authorities they were on a test flight in the survey chopper when they suddenly heard a loud pop and began losing altitude.
Area resident Neicy Miramontes told the Fresno Bee that her 9-year-old son, Ezekiel Carranco, was walking to a friend’s house when he noticed the helicopter in trouble.
“All of a sudden he looks up and sees the helicopter spinning and after that he heard a loud boom,” she told the paper.
Another neighbor, Kathy Logan, said the helicopter sounded like it was having problems before it went down.
“He sounded like he’s losing power and he’s getting closer. As soon as I said that, bam it crashed,” she told the outlet.
