Three killed when vintage helicopter crashes near Adelanto, California.
The Piasecki PV-18 is similar to this Piasecki H-25. (Photo by U.S. Navy)
A 1951 Piasecki PV-18 (HUP-1 Retriever) Korean War-era helicopter (registration N183YP) crashed one mile south of Adelanto Airport (52CL) in Adelanto, California killing all three occupants aboard. The accident happened yesterday (November 7, 2009) in San Bernardino County, California (Mojave Desert area). Pilot Joseph “Joe” William Pike was killed along with two other occupants.
While much is still unknown about the crash, the accident occurred after the aircraft departed 52CL on its way to Flabob Airport (RIR) in Riverside, California. The helicopter crashed near Victor Street, one mile south of the airport. It appeared the helicopter had struck power lines, but it is unclear if this is the cause of the accident or if it happened as part of other events. Most of the helicopter, with the exception of the tail area, burned in the accident. Some (unverified) reports claim the helicopter made an emergency call to a local airport.
The helicopter pilot was very experienced and had time flying helicopters as an instructor and for the sheriff’s department. As mentioned before, determining what went wrong here is difficult until the accident investigation moves along a bit. While it appears that the helicopter struck power lines before the crash, it is difficult to say if this was the cause of the accident (although certainly a contributing factor). Something may have happened beforehand that led to the power line strike. The pilot had restored the helicopter with the help of his two sons.
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joe pike was the only person i would feel comfortable with flying. in my heart i know that there was other factors that contributed to the crash, such as mechanical. joe was a friend of mine for 35+
years and i watched as he guided his boys in helicopter building
and repairing. it breaks my heart to see his sons with so much
sadness in their eyes. i know they are so strong that their dad’s
dreams will come through because of them
Aunt Marilyn
Marilyn,
Sorry to hear about the loss of someone you knew for such a long time. I can imagine how difficult it must be for his sons, especially since they worked on the helicopter project with him. As soon as the NTSB reports start emerging I will keep everyone updated as to what may have happened here.
Fernando