More fire videos from FireCritic.com
(Special thanks to Fernando Xavier Frez Meriño for assistance with this story.)
The video above shows what happened when a fire truck crashed into the blades of a police helicopter in San Miguel, Chile today (Sunday). The impact happens at 2:10 into the video.
The video below captures more of the immediate aftermath as the chopper spins out of control and then explodes.
Below is a short ground view of the chopper spinning out of control.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6X5uR8J3tU
Immediately below are three videos showing the scene after the helicopter stopped spinning out of control.
Further down the page is a video shot earlier showing the chopper landing at the crash scene where a drunk driver ran into a police car. I’ve also added some aftermath photos from the crash scene sent to STATter911.com.
During the early morning hours on Sunday a police helicopter who came to the aid of a crashed police patrol car toppled over and exploded after its propeller blades had clashed with a fire fighting truck at the scene of the accident in San Miguel.
The seriously injured pilot and three officers who had been in the police car previous to the arrival of the helicopter were transferred to the hospital. The first accident was provoked by a drunk driver who ran into the police car causing the helicopter to be summoned.
The helicopter landed on the closed off street to allow a paramedic to tend to the injured. A fire truck that was making its way through the accident zone then struck one of the blades causing the explosion. It was confirmed that the fire fighter truck was authorized to cross the path of the helicopter at the time of accident.
The chopper twisted and twirled around on its metal skids sending sparks off in all directions.
The out-of-control chopper then collided with a police car, knocking the cab to the ground where it exploded.
The pilot was left in serious condition with multiple fractures while the other three officers were being treated in hospital, according to Soy Chile.
