Fire and rescue personnel work in the area where a medical rescue helicopter crashed, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Pompano Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
By Terry Spencer
A medical rescue helicopter caught fire and broke apart shortly after takeoff Monday before crashing into an apartment complex near Fort Lauderdale, killing a paramedic captain on board and a resident on the ground, authorities said.
Two others on board and two other people at the apartment complex were injured.
Broward County Fire-Rescue Capt. Terryson Jackson, 49, and a woman died when the Broward Sheriff's Office helicopter crashed through the complex's roof after taking off from Pompano Beach Airpark at about 8:45 a.m., Sheriff Gregory Tony said. He said the four injured were taken to the hospital and are expected to survive.
Jackson was a 19-year veteran of the department.
“Terryson was a rock star, he was one of the best of us,” said Tony, who also oversees the county's fire department. “He bled this profession inside and out all day long.”
The injured firefighters are pilot Daron Roche, 37, and Mike Chaguaceda, 31.
The dead woman's name was not released as her family was being notified, Tony said.
The three-member crew was heading to an emergency medical rescue to take the patient to the hospital. A video posted online shows flames coming from the midsection of the helicopter as it is trailed by a long plume of smoke. The helicopter then appears to break in half as it begins to spiral, plunging to the ground. A video from another angle showed that the helicopter's blades were not turning rapidly.
Tony said that even as the crew members were declaring a mayday to the airport's control tower and trying to save their helicopter, they were also radioing paramedics at the medical emergency to let them know they would have to take the patient to the hospital.
“We are talking about the character of these men,” Tony said. “As they were fighting for their lives, they were thinking about somebody else.”
Witness Brian Piggott told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that the helicopter began trailing smoke as soon as it took off. It then lost altitude and crashed.
Victoria Walczak, who was inside the apartment building, said the crash was louder than thunder.
“I thought a bomb went off,” she told the newspaper.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: Nucleus CEO breaks down what the future of the genomics industry looks like; Biomilq Co-Founders explains how they are is recreating the process of milk production outside the body to combine both nutrition and practicality for new moms; A look at Curiosity Stream's 'Top Science Stories 2021.'
Kian Sadeghi, Founder and CEO of Nucleus, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how he's making genetic analysis more accessible, what our genetic code can teach us about ourselves, and what the future of the genomics industry looks like.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: Omorpho Co-Founder explains the innovation driving gravity sportswear; Cool Beans CEO breaks down the science behind 'good mood food;' A look at Curiosity Stream's 'Building The James Webb Telescope.'
NASA's Perseverance Rover unexpectedly has discovered volcanic rock on the surface of Mars. Scientists initially had thought the rocks were sedimentary in nature.
The deadly tornadoes that devastated Kentucky and five other states last weekend have brought climate change back to forefront of the conversation. Scientists say no single weather event can be pinned to climate change alone, but this December has been unseasonably warm, and warmer temperatures can make extreme weather events more likely. Jana Houser, associate professor of meteorology at Ohio University, joined Cheddar to discuss what role climate change might have played in these deadly tornadoes, and what can be done to prevent severe weather events like this from getting even worse in the future.
Even as tech giant Google implements a vaccination mandate, charging its employees to declare their vaccine status within a time frame or risk dismissal, the federal government is tangled up in the court system trying to impose one of its own. Cindy Cohn, the executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Harry Nelson, founder and managing partner of Nelson Hardiman LLP, joined Cheddar to debate the ethics, efficacy, and legality surrounding the issue. While Cohn noted that she thinks the federal mandate might be legally sound, her organization is also concerned with a separate question of privacy. "At EFF what we're most interested in is the digital surveillance that's going along with some of these attempts to try to track and confirm whether people are vaccinated or not," she said.
