5 hospitalized after helicopter crashes in busy oceanfront area of Huntington Beach

To give you some context, when this crash happened, it was just after 2 o'clock in the afternoon and the beach was packed, so witnesses say it was absolutely terrifying not only seeing this crash as it happened, but hearing it as well. It's *** little difficult to see because it's dark out, but that helicopter is still wedged in between those palm trees straight ahead. Whoa. It's *** heart-stopping moment caught on camera in Huntington Beach. I hear this weird, I knew the helicopters and hot rod thing was going on. I hear this, this odd sound that didn't sound right. I look down and I see the helicopters spiraling out of control. The helicopter begins dipping toward the tree line before suddenly losing control, spinning as *** piece appears to fly off. Whoa. Then slamming into palm trees near the Hyatt pedestrian bridge. Everything looks fine and then all of *** sudden it started like, like swirling around in the air and it like impaled on the bridge stairs. Oh no. Oh my God, oh my God. Panic quickly spread. There was like *** boy who had dropped like all of his sand toys and he was bawling, looking for his mom. And so I'm not sure exactly where he came from, but there was *** lot of, definitely confusion and like *** lot of scared kids. People ran toward the wreckage to help. My friend saw that he saw shrapnel or just debris catapulting across PCH towards the hotel, and that's where it must have struck the uh the. on the other side of the firefighters say 2 people on board, the pilot and passenger, were pulled from the wreckage and rushed to the hospital along with 3 others on the ground, including *** child. Investigators from the NTSB and FAA are working to determine what caused the helicopter to crash. *** helicopter is *** machine. It seems to appear that, you know, the investigators are going to look into things like tail rotor failure since it was rotating like that and then came down. City officials say the helicopter was part of the cars and copters event. The helicopter crashed near *** landing party ahead of Sunday's festivities. It looked really serious. I was surprised to hear that anybody actually made it out safe, to be honest. *** council member for this district says they're still waiting on an update from the hospital regarding the condition of the five victims. Reporting in Huntington Beach, Lauren Posen, K.

Updated: 3:00 PM CDT Oct 12, 2025

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5 hospitalized after helicopter crashes in busy oceanfront area of Huntington Beach

Updated: 3:00 PM CDT Oct 12, 2025

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Five people, including a child, were hospitalized when a helicopter crashed in the Southern California city of Huntington Beach on Saturday afternoon.It happened just after 2 p.m. local time near a parking lot off Pacific Coast Highway, between Beach Boulevard and Twin Dolphins Drive, according to Huntington Beach firefighters. City officials tell CBS News that the two people on the helicopter were safely pulled from the wreckage. Three pedestrians on the street were also injured in the incident, and all five people were taken to the hospital for treatment. None of their conditions was known.Police closed PCH between Huntington Street and Beach Boulevard at around 3 p.m., as they began to investigate the crash. They asked people to avoid the area and use alternate routes for at least several hours after the closure was put into place. A dramatic video posted on social media shows the helicopter spinning several times before crashing into palm trees and the outdoor stairway of the pedestrian bridge that runs over PCH to the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa. Other video footage shows an object falling from the helicopter moments before it plummeted from the sky. With SkyCal over the scene, scattered debris was seen in the beach access parking lot, a large part of which was blocked off by police tape. The tail of the aircraft broke off in the crash, with the rest of the helicopter still wedged between the staircase and palm trees as of 4:30 p.m.There were several other small helicopters parked in the parking lot near where the crash happened, just in front of the Hyatt Regency and Waterfront Beach Resort. An "exclusive helicopter landing party" was being hosted by MD Helicopters at the Offshore 9 Rooftop Lounge on Saturday afternoon, where attendees were invited to "watch helicopters arrive from a bird's eye view." The landing party was scheduled ahead of the Cars 'N Copters On the Coast main event on Sunday.Event organizers said that the event was not going to be canceled. "We are sending our prayers out to all involved in the unfortunate incident today," said a statement. "Our plan for now is to move forward with our event tomorrow, Sunday, October 12th. We will advise everyone at the earliest possible opportunity if that plan changes."Witnesses said that the helicopter appeared to dip towards the bridge before it lost control and crashed. "You can hear this odd sound that didn't sound right," said Kevin Bullat, who saw the scene unfold. "I looked out and I see the helicopter spiraling out of control. ... My friend saw shrapnel, or just debris, catapulting across PCH."It's unclear what caused the helicopter to crash. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been notified of the crash, city officials said. The helicopter was a Bell 222, which is powered by two turboshaft engines, and was manufactured in 1980.

KCAL,KCBS —

Five people, including a child, were hospitalized when a helicopter crashed in the Southern California city of Huntington Beach on Saturday afternoon.

It happened just after 2 p.m. local time near a parking lot off Pacific Coast Highway, between Beach Boulevard and Twin Dolphins Drive, according to Huntington Beach firefighters.

City officials tell CBS News that the two people on the helicopter were safely pulled from the wreckage. Three pedestrians on the street were also injured in the incident, and all five people were taken to the hospital for treatment. None of their conditions was known.

Police closed PCH between Huntington Street and Beach Boulevard at around 3 p.m., as they began to investigate the crash. They asked people to avoid the area and use alternate routes for at least several hours after the closure was put into place.

A dramatic video posted on social media shows the helicopter spinning several times before crashing into palm trees and the outdoor stairway of the pedestrian bridge that runs over PCH to the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa.

Other video footage shows an object falling from the helicopter moments before it plummeted from the sky.

With SkyCal over the scene, scattered debris was seen in the beach access parking lot, a large part of which was blocked off by police tape. The tail of the aircraft broke off in the crash, with the rest of the helicopter still wedged between the staircase and palm trees as of 4:30 p.m.

There were several other small helicopters parked in the parking lot near where the crash happened, just in front of the Hyatt Regency and Waterfront Beach Resort. An "exclusive helicopter landing party" was being hosted by MD Helicopters at the Offshore 9 Rooftop Lounge on Saturday afternoon, where attendees were invited to "watch helicopters arrive from a bird's eye view." The landing party was scheduled ahead of the Cars 'N Copters On the Coast main event on Sunday.

Event organizers said that the event was not going to be canceled.

"We are sending our prayers out to all involved in the unfortunate incident today," said a statement. "Our plan for now is to move forward with our event tomorrow, Sunday, October 12th. We will advise everyone at the earliest possible opportunity if that plan changes."

Witnesses said that the helicopter appeared to dip towards the bridge before it lost control and crashed.

"You can hear this odd sound that didn't sound right," said Kevin Bullat, who saw the scene unfold. "I looked out and I see the helicopter spiraling out of control. ... My friend saw shrapnel, or just debris, catapulting across PCH."

It's unclear what caused the helicopter to crash. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been notified of the crash, city officials said.

The helicopter was a Bell 222, which is powered by two turboshaft engines, and was manufactured in 1980.

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