Aviation giant that built NBC helicopter breaks its silence after horrific LA fireball crash

The company that built an NBC helicopter that crashed in Los Angeles this week has said it is assisting federal authorities in their investigation.

Airbus Helicopters, which put together the Eurocopter AS 350 B2 Ecureuil involved in Tuesday’s crash, exclusively released a statement to the California Post about the crash.

“Airbus Helicopters confirms that an AS350 operated by Welk Aviation was involved in an accident on Sept. 15, in Chatsworth, California, while covering news for local television stations,” they wrote.

“We offer our condolences to the families of those who died and to everyone impacted by this accident. Airbus Helicopters is assisting in the NTSB’s investigation.”

The manufacturer added that there are “more than 4,800 AS350/H125 helicopters in service today, having accumulated around 40 million flight hours.”

“As is standard for any ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further.”

NTSB investigators were at the crash site on Wednesday alongside the airframe manufacturer and the engine manufacturer. The manufacturers may receive the crash components “for a more thorough examination to include tearing them all the way down to their base,” an investigator with the NTSB said.

The helicopter the news crew was in — a Eurocopter AS 350 B2 Ecureuil with registration N358TV — was manufactured in 2004, according to FAA records. Records show the aircraft’s registration was valid until December 2028.

Maintenance records filed with the FAA show the helicopter last had a major repair and alteration in Aug. 2023, related to its airframe. Work included a door modification, a new equipment list and a weight and balance revision.

Veteran helicopter pilot and former news reporter Zoey Tur said video from the crash appeared to capture signs of an engine failure shortly before the helicopter went down.

“If you listen, you could hear the low rotor RPM annunciator horn going off. You could also hear the engine rev down.

“This was an engine failure, and slow response into entering an auto -rotation by PiC. No survivors,” Tur wrote, noting in an accompanying post that she owned two similar helicopters.

The model of helicopter involved in the crash has been involved in several other fatal accidents this year, including the mid-air helicopter collision that killed musician Oliver Tree.

A Eurocopter AS 350B2 Ecureuil, within the same helicopter family as the NBC chopper, collided in mid-air with a Bell 206B JetRanger III carrying Californian singer Oliver Tree and his entourage in Brazil in June this year. The crash killed six people, including the pilot of the Eurocopter.

Four other fatal incidents involving the Aérospatiale AS 350 Écureuil helicopter family include a Germany crash in August, a May crash in China, a May crash on a hunting trip in New Zealand that killed two, and a February Kenya crash that killed six people, according to the Aviation Safety Network.

Nearly 400 flight incidents involving the Aérospatiale AS 350 Écureuil helicopter family have occurred in the US since January 1980, according to the Aviation Safety Network.

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