Sad News - another crash - today

[Worldcrime]

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:55E-mail | PrintALAMEDA CO.: UPDATE: TWO MALE VICTIMS KILLED IN HELICOPTER CRASH

 

 

Two male victims were killed this morning in a helicopter crash that downed power lines and started a 5-acre grassfire near northbound Interstate Highway 680 in unincorporated Alameda County, according to the Alameda County coroner's bureau.

The crash at 12:32 a.m. occurred near Vargas Road just outside of Fremont, California Highway Patrol Officer Aaron Quistad said.

The coroner's bureau has received reports of two unidentified male victims from the crash, Deputy T. Engel said. Engel said the coroner's bureau will wait for the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board to conduct an investigation before retrieving the victims.

The slow lane of northbound Highway 680 from Vargas Road to Sheridan Road is closed due to the downed lines and fire, and approximately 746 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers in the Sunol area are without power.

PG&E spokesman J.D. Guidi said the outages began at 12:32 a.m. and are due to downed power lines, but said he could not confirm if the outages were caused by the helicopter crash that also occurred at 12:32 a.m.

 

 

richard

 

 

http://heli-safety.com

http://heli-wear.com

[Worldcrime]

Looks like a wire strike.

 

 

Fiery East Bay Helicopter Crash Kills 2 Men

FREMONT (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― A flight instructor and his student were killed in a

helicopter crash near Interstate 680 in Alameda County Friday morning after the aircraft

hit power lines and ignited a grass fire, authorities said.

The Schweizer 269 helicopter crash-landed onto Sheridan Road in an area of the county

between Fremont and Sunol about 12:30 a.m., California Highway Patrol Officer Aaron

Quistad. It is unknown which of the men was piloting the copter.

The aircraft was owned by a San Mateo-based company, according to Federal Aviation

Administration spokesman Ian Gregor.

When the helicopter hit the power line, it caught fire, killing its occupants, according to

Gregor.

The scorched two-seat aircraft sat on the roadway several hours after the crash.

"This thing is pretty badly burnt," Alameda County sheriff's Sgt. J.D. Nelson said from the

scene.

A grassfire ignited by the crash burned between 3 and 5 acres of vegetation on the

highway's right-hand shoulder, Nelson said.

Fremont firefighters remained on the scene after controlling the grassfire around 2:30

a.m.

Investigators had not determined if the helicopter's pilot did not see the power lines or

encountered mechanical problems before crashing.

Weather in the area was cloudy when the crash occurred, according to Gregor.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the incident.

A portion of northbound 680 was reopened after closing due to the crash, which knocked

down power lines into traffic lanes. But Sheridan Road and the Sheridan Road offramp

remained closed indefinately.

Approximately 746 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers in the Sunol area left without

power due to the severed power line were restored around 3:40 a.m., PG&E spokesman

J.D. Guidi said.

 

Worldcrime Posted 38 minutes ago

 

 

 

richard

 

 

http://heli-safety.com

http://heli-wear.

 

FROM HELISAFE NEWSWIRE 8585485 Xalpha

[Tawler]

sigh

 

:\. May they RIP.

[67november]

this is not good

 

RIP fellas

 

spread the word people STAY ALERT, STAY ALIVE.

[Chopperjess]

RIP =(

 

Do we know what company yet?

[falcongsr]

RIP =(

 

Do we know what company yet?

 

Friend of the instructor here.

 

SF gate has the most detail right now...including company name.

 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...A.DTL&tsp=1

 

Here is the location, you can see the power lines crossing both the highway and Sheridan road. Lots of elevation changes and hills here.

 

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=37....mp;t=h&z=19

 

Terrible day. He was a good man.

 

Video of the crash site. Brutal. http://cbs5.com/local/fremont.helicopter.crash.2.763778.html

[Goldy]

horrible.

[rollthbns]

Sad news....

 

My heart goes out to all family and friends affected by this.......

[ADRidge]

My god that's horrible. Rest in peace guys.

[heligirl03]

omg. too much sadness, terrible news.

wirestrike....

[JDHelicopterPilot]

This is really sad. My heart goes out to friends and family.

 

I spent several years flying in the SF and East Bay areas.

Edited July 5, 2008 by JDHelicopterPilot

[blave]

I did most of my private and all of my commercial work in this aircraft (N2011A), so this hits pretty close to home.

 

It was at Nice Air for several years, but as I understand things, it had been sold to a new company, Silicon Valley Helicopters, fairly recently.

 

Based on the time and location, I will make a WAG that they were doing the dual night cross country requirement for the private rating. My night dual from RHV to C83 (Byron) probably flew in that general area back in 2002?.

 

My condolences to the families.

 

 

Dave B.

[rottenrobbie]

Who was the instructor? Student? I'm sorry to hear that you knew the instructor, I'm just afraid that I might also.

 

Friend of the instructor here.

 

SF gate has the most detail right now...including company name.

 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...A.DTL&tsp=1

 

Here is the location, you can see the power lines crossing both the highway and Sheridan road. Lots of elevation changes and hills here.

 

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=37....mp;t=h&z=19

 

Terrible day. He was a good man.

 

Video of the crash site. Brutal. http://cbs5.com/local/fremont.helicopter.crash.2.763778.html

[falcongsr]

Who was the instructor? Student? I'm sorry to hear that you knew the instructor, I'm just afraid that I might also.

 

More information will be released tomorrow when the accident investigation resumes (not much happened over the holiday weekend).

[GreenMachine]

I had my first lesson scheduled at Silicon Valley Helicopters this morning at 6am. I hadn't heard the news of the crash, and waited around but nobody showed. I looked out at the pad, and saw that the helicopter N2011A wasn't there. I just figured it was in the hangar.

 

My thoughts are with the friends and family.

[KrisRamJ]

Who was the instructor? Student? I'm sorry to hear that you knew the instructor, I'm just afraid that I might also.

 

The instructor was Antony Zani, article here:

 

http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/Article.as...28794?UserKey=0

 

I met him at Helicopter Adventures during my training, he was a nice guy. Way too young to go.

 

RIP Antony

[GreenMachine]

The instructor was Antony Zani, article here:

 

http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/Article.as...28794?UserKey=0

 

I met him at Helicopter Adventures during my training, he was a nice guy. Way too young to go.

 

RIP Antony

 

 

Thanks for the article link. Even though I only had a few hours to get to know him, he was a really great guy. I had been holding onto hope that it wasn't him.

[Worldcrime]

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office today released the identities of two men killed in a helicopter crash Friday in an unincorporated part of the county between Fremont and Sunol.

 

Eugene Khenson, a 39-year-old Santa Clara man, and Antony B.J. Zani, a 27-year-old Palo Alto man, died after the Schweizer 269 helicopter hit power lines and crash-landed onto Sheridan Road near Interstate Highway 680, Sgt. J.D. Nelson said.

 

Zani was believed to be a flight instructor and Khenson was believed to be a student, Nelson said.

 

 

 

 

richard

 

 

http://heli-safety.com

http://heli-wear

 

 

 

 

 

 

FROM HELISAFE NEWSWIRE 8589946 Xalpha

[falcongsr]

I was told Khenson was already a fixed wing CFI and getting his heli to further his career.