March 20, 2022- 8:19 p.m.
Five of the injured were sheriff’s deputies of varying rank who were en route to a call, Deputy T. Koerner of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department said. A UCLA physician on a ride-along was also injured, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Saturday night.
Air Rescue 5, listed by the department and various aircraft sites as a AS332 Super Puma, was one of three helicopters the department uses for rescues, the sheriff said.
The crew was on the way to pick up a patient injured in a vehicle crash when something abruptly happened and the pilot set the helicopter down in what Villanueva described as a hard landing and rollover.
Most of the people on board were seen in NBC Los Angeles footage walking to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center after being take there by another helicopter. The sheriff said injuries include broken ribs and bone fractures.
The hospital’s medical director, Dr. James Kim, said all the patients had been stabilized.
Footage of the mangled helicopter with sheriff’s markings and colors on State Route 39 above the city of Azusa was broadcast by NBC Los Angeles.
Koerner said the crash, on a turnout that abuts a perilous downslope, was reported at 4:58 p.m. at mile marker 21.70, in a remote part of the route that is part of the Angeles National Forest.
Villanueva described the crash site as being just a few feet from a 200-foot drop.
The three rescue helicopters run by the department are involved in more than 500 calls for service a year, said pilot and deputy Rob Gracia. The loss of one could impact the department’s mission, he said.
