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Shelley Osterloh and Brooke Walker Reporting Authorities are praising a quick-thinking chopper pilot who managed a crash landing on top of a building.
"It's very remarkable to think he only had seconds to make a decision about what to do with the load he had, the people below him, and himself."
The helicopter was installing air conditioning units when it lost power and crashed on top of the building on Salt Lake City's west side. No one was hurt in the incident.
The chopper was hovering about 100 feet over the Amsco Window Plant, with a large air conditioner dangling off a line. Pilot Tony Fizer told fire authorities he then felt a drop in engine power as he tried to lower the 20th of 23 air conditioning units. The pilot managed to miss the three men working below him and put the chopper down. Then it tipped over on its side.
The Amsco Windows building is so large -- 500-thousand square feet -- the company hired to install air conditioning units on the roof contracted a helicopter to lower them into place.
Officials say the chopper was a hundred feet above the roof, lowering one of the last units to three waiting men, when it lost power.
Scott Fritag of the Salt Lake City Fire Department said, "Somehow he was able to move the helicopter over just a few feet and place the piece of equipment down without injuring anybody, and then tried to land the helicopter. Didn't have a whole lot of power to put it down. Had a hard landing, bounced, then flipped over on its side."
Although the chopper ended up on its side, the pilot and other workers were not hurt.
James Swider of AC Electric says, "We were pretty close to working underneath where it came down, but we didn't hear it come down. We just saw it once we got up there."
The 200 workers inside the plant were evacuated for about an hour while officials made sure there was not danger from fire or fuel leaks.
Amsco has been in business for nearly 57 years and the owner, Phil Rasmussen, says he's just relieved it wasn't worse. "Oh yes, we are pleased that... I don't think anyone was hurt and the damage seems minimal, probably more to the helicopter than anything else."
The helicopter, which was leased from a North Salt Lake company, had some mangled rotors, but appears otherwise intact, Freitag said.
Fizer is an experienced pilot with thousands of hours of commercial flight experience. Officials are giving him a lot of praise for managing to set the aircraft down without injury to himself or others on the ground.
"For him to get it moved away from people and keep (the helicopter) from going through the roof or off the side, that took some skill," Freitag said. "It if were somebody with less experience, it may not have turned out so well."
A crane was used to lift the chopper off the roof. When all the pieces of the aircraft were removed, the crane planned to finish lifting the air conditioners onto the roof.
The FAA is investigating why the chopper lost power.
When the helicopter went down, the pilot was performing a very common maneuver but one that's also very dangerous. He was long lining -- carrying additional weight by a rope or cable.
It's the most vulnerable position for an aircraft to be in. Which makes today's outcome a job well done.
"Long lining is probably some of the most dangerous work you can do in a helicopter." "You're at the mercy of the aircraft engine, hoping the engine won't quit on you."
But today, that's exactly what happened. It's not unusual to use a helicopter to move heavy objects -aircrafts are often more accessible and faster than cranes.
But long line jobs require the pilot to fly at an extremely low altitude and slow speed, which makes emergency landings extremely difficult.
Fritz Holly, Pilot, Chopper 5: "If you're hovering at 100, 50 feet off the ground and you have a long line below you with some weight that excess weight is going to add to the weight and bring it down quicker."
Chopper 5 Pilot Fritz Holly says the F-A-A strictly regulates operations like the one that crashed today. No passengers are allowed on board, only the pilot and required crew members. And the helicopter cannot fly over residential areas or major roadways.
Holly says in this situation, it appears every precaution was taken and the pilot did everything right.
Fritz Holly: "It could have been a lot worse. It could have been a lot worse. I think he did a great job."
The helicopter was an older model, but one eqipped to handle the weight of the air conditioner. Overall, a very fortunate outcome.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story)
