Witnesses Say R-22 Was Flying Low Over Freeway Before Impact

On Monday, the National Transportation Safety Board released its Preliminary Report on the January 25 downing of a Robinson R-22. As ANN reported, the accident claimed the life of the recently-certificated pilot onboard.

Of note, the NTSB reports the pilot's instructor told investigators the pilot, 29-year-old Michael Patrick O'Neill, "seemed down and indicated that he wanted to perform a solo flight that night," instead of the dual instructional flight that was scheduled.

Officials declined to comment on whether that statement indicates O'Neill may have been despondent prior to the accident flight. "As part of any crash investigation, we try to understand what every pilot was thinking or going through," NTSB investigator Zoe Keliher told The Daily Breeze.

The CFI also told investigators O'Neill called him on his cell phone about an hour after he departed, stating he was having problems with his new noise-cancellation headset. The CFI gave O'Neill a few tips to deal with the problem, after which O'Neill indicated he would soon head back to the flight's origination point of Zamperini Field in Torrance, CA.

Limited to flying at-or-below 500 feet by air traffic control due to traffic landing to the east at LAX, O'Neill flew low over the Harbor Freeway (Interstate 110), prompting several witnesses to note the helo's unusual altitude. One witness described seeing a spark, similar to a sparkling firework, before the helo plummeted and impacted the freeway.

Power lines were located adjacent to the wreckage, with two transmission towers on either side of the freeway and static lines across the I-110 at about 120 feet AGL. A City of Los Angeles Water and Power superintendent noted one of those lines had a six-to-eight-inch abrasion along its surface.

A final report on the accident will be released within the next 12 months.

FMI: Read The NTSB Prelim