CLEVELAND (AP) – A helicopter crashed on an airport runway only a few hundred yards from thousands of fans attending a car race Saturday but the pilot walked away uninjured. The helicopter went down at almost the same time that several cars were involved in a first lap accident in the Grand Prix of Cleveland at the Burke Lakefront Airport.
The helicopter’s back rotator blade was broken off and part of its body was sheared away. No one else was in the helicopter, and there were no injuries on the ground.
Moments before it went down, the helicopter had flown over crowded grandstands.
Airport officials said the pilot of the privately chartered helicopter reported an equipment malfunction while in the air, but it was too early to pinpoint the cause of the crash.
The race has been held on the airport’s runways and taxiways since 1982. Burke Airport is used primarily by smaller planes and news helicopters.
AP-ES-06-25-05 1618EDT
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.