Police chief provides update on media helicopter crash that killed two in Charlotte

All right good afternoon everybody thank you for coming

Um Just want to give you a quick update at

about 12 o'clock this afternoon charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department received

a call for a helicopter crash on I seven on

the southbound side

Officers responded to the scene and tragically uh confirmed that

there was a helicopter crash as well as two victims

who had who were deceased on the scene

Uh Currently we're still investigating the incident

Uh C

M

P

D

Is assisting in traffic control and the diversion of traffic

Uh We are not able to release information about the

helicopter itself and also about the victims that were inside

of the helicopter as well

Uh What I can confirm with you is that no

vehicles were involved in the in the incident

Uh and that the the helicopter crash occurred off off

to the side of the roadway

Uh the NTSB and the FAA will be conducting the

investment and the Police Department at this time along with

the charlotte Fire Department in Carolina State Highway Patrol will

be assisting in securing the scene uh and awaiting the

arrival of the investigators for the FAA and the NTSB

Uh So with that I will take any questions that

you might have with the understanding that I cannot uh

discuss the victims as well as the aircraft that had

uh that has crashed

When you say you can't talk about the aircraft you

mean like that's correct

It is a helicopter aircraft that is crashed but however

as far as identifying where the aircraft is from that

is something that we're not ready to release and just

ask the respect of the families we do have to

make some notifications

Uh and that's gonna take some time

Uh as soon as we get that that information I'm

sure will be released

It's yeah it's it's it's difficult

It's tragic in that uh on top of that going

into the holiday season where uh we're supposed to be

spending time with our loved ones

Uh and tragically there are two people involved in this

crash that will not be going home be spending the

holidays with their families

So it's a huge loss tragic loss

And it's just something that you can't put into words

uh uh offer condolences to the families

We do pray for the families of both of these

victims

It's going to be a difficult holiday season

I know it's early right now and you can't speak

to the investigation but are you witnesses There are reports

that witnesses have called some heroics here as to where

this helicopter landed compared to where it could have

That's correct

I have heard that as well that um it seems

the pilot that was operating the aircraft uh made some

diversionary moves to avoid hitting traffic

Fortunately there was no vehicles involved in it

And I think that's uh as we move forward to

me it looks like a heroic um uh incident where

the pilot tried to avoid uh injuring anyone else and

putting anyone else in danger

And if if that is truly the case then that

pilot is a hero to in my eyes to make

sure that the safety and security of those that were

driving on the road was not in jeopardy

So do you have an idea about how many witnesses

there might have been that you guys have been able

to I'm not sure I know there's a couple that

had stayed on the scene but we're still looking at

anyone who was a witness to it

Uh is certainly I'm sure the NTSB and the FAA

is is gonna be uh interested in speaking with those

individuals

I don't have information on how to get in touch

with with them at this time but I'm sure that

that's something that uh they'll be interested in having that

conversation

Yeah so right now traffic is closed uh 77 southbound

between Tavola and Arrowood Road

Uh don't anticipate that opening anytime soon

So anyone who can avoid that area if that's if

that's a route of your destination uh please that avoid

that area and if at all possible because traffic is

gonna be backed up for some time

Uh and I anticipated going through rush hour uh and

possibly through the night but as investigators arrive I don't

have an estimated time of arrival for them but as

they arrive we're gonna be looking for the need to

continue to have all of the lanes blocked

And if we can certainly open up a lane or

to to allow traffic to flow we will we will

do that when possible

But again as I mentioned the charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department

the charlotte Fire Department and the North Carolina Highway Patrol

are assisting in this to ensure that uh that we

have traffic flow and safety of that of that scene

as much as possible

No this time there was no indication that there was

any type of fire

Again we looked at heard from some of the witnesses

that the pilot did try to avert and to avoid

hitting any vehicles

Uh and uh from the looks of where the scene

was and the crash was the pilot was successful and

not uh going into the roadway and hitting any vehicles

So that's certainly a heroic act and and probably saved

some lives

All right anybody else want to thank you very much

You gotta do this again when you might do this

again

Maybe like 30 minutes

I have no idea

You know I think what we're gonna end up doing

is um that's gonna be turned over to the NTSB

and the FAA

Uh really our investors are part of the investigation is

is more at this point just to make sure we

secure the scene keep traffic flowing and uh and make

sure that they have everything they need as far as

when they get here for the investigation

So I don't know if we'll do another stand up

from C

M

P

D

Or not

But if you guys do stand up with the FAA

or whatever it would be here then I have no

idea

I don't even have an E

T

A

For when they're gonna be here

All right

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you everyone