加利福尼亚州纽波特比奇——一名飞行员在一架警用直升机起飞前不久报告了机械故障碰撞当局周日称，一名警察在南加州海岸被撞身亡。
警方称，周六在事故中受伤的一名亨廷顿海滩警察周日早上从医院出院。当局还没有确定这名警官的身份或详细说明他的伤势，但警方发言人詹妮弗·凯里告诉奥兰治县登记处，官员们“对他的康复持乐观态度。”
警察局长埃里克·帕拉周六晚上说，尼古拉斯·维拉，一名14岁的老兵，在车祸中丧生。44岁的维拉身后留下了妻子和女儿。
周六下午6点30分左右，两名警察正在应对邻近城市新港海滩的骚乱，当时飞机坠毁在新港湾丽都岛和巴尔博亚半岛之间的狭窄水域。目击者称，船员们急忙将警察拉出直升机，直升机在浅水中倒挂着。
国家运输安全委员会发言人埃利奥特·辛普森在周日的新闻发布会上说，飞行员打了一个简短的电话，报告直升机遇到了机械问题，然后再次打电话说他们将坠毁。
据《洛杉矶时报》报道，辛普森说，初步报告显示，直升机“机头向下坠入水中”。
周日，工作人员使用起重机将受损的直升机从浅水区吊起。
坠毁的原因将在NTSB号结束时确定调查该机构表示，这可能需要12至18个月的时间。
目前还不清楚是哪位官员在驾驶直升机。
周六晚上，数十名警察和急救人员在医院外排成一行，向维拉的灵柩致敬，灵柩被护送到奥兰治县验尸官办公室。
维拉“真正致力于他的工作，做他喜欢做的事情，”局长说。
“对于我们所有人来说，这是一个艰难的夜晚，在我们支持我们的军官家属时，我请求你们的祈祷和支持。"
亨廷顿海滩警察局有三架直升机，通常一天24小时都有一架在运行。帕拉说，另外两架飞机将停飞，等待检查和初步调查。
Issues reported before California police helicopter crash
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- A pilot reported mechanical issues shortly before a police helicoptercrashed nose first along the Southern California coast, killing one officer, authorities said Sunday.
A Huntington Beach officer who was injured in the crash Saturday was released from a hospital Sunday morning, police said. Authorities haven’t identified the officer or detailed his injures, but police spokeswoman Jennifer Carey told the Orange County Register that officials “are optimistic about his recovery.”
Nicholas Vella, a 14-year veteran, died in the crash, police Chief Eric Parra said Saturday night. Vella, 44, leaves behind behind a wife and daughter.
The two officers were responding to a disturbance in the neighboring city of Newport Beach around 6:30 p.m. Saturday when the aircraft crashed in a narrow strip of water in Newport Bay between Lido Isle and the Balboa Peninsula. Witnesses said boaters rushed to pull the officers out of the helicopter, which landed upside down in shallow water.
The pilot made a brief call to report that the helicopter was experiencing mechanical issues, before calling again to say that they were going to crash, said National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson Elliott Simpson during a Sunday news conference.
Simpson said preliminary reports are that the helicopter made “a nose-down descent into the water,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Crews used a crane to hoist the damaged helicopter from the shallow water on Sunday.
The cause of the crash will be determined at the end of the NTSB’sinvestigation, which could take 12 to 18 months, the agency said.
It wasn’t immediately clear which officer was piloting the helicopter.
Dozens of officers and first responders formed a line Saturday night outside the hospital to salute Vella’s casket as it was escorted to the Orange County coroner’s office.
Vella “was truly dedicated to his job and was doing what he loved doing,” the chief said.
“This is a difficult night for all of us and I would ask for your prayers and support as we support our officers’ families.”
The Huntington Beach Police Department has three helicopters and typically keeps one in operation 24 hours a day. The two other aircraft will be grounded pending an inspection and the preliminary investigation, Parra said.
