Terrifying moment tourist helicopter spirals out of control on take-off before crashing into a building – with all six on board somehow surviving in Colombia
Dramatic video captured the moment a helicopter crashed after taking off from a restaurant helipad in Medellin, Colombia, on Monday.
The pilot, co-pilot and four passengers, including a dual citizen of the United States and Colombia, survived.
One of the passengers was rushed to a local hospital and treated for a broken left leg and lacerations to the body.
Cell phone video showed the Bell 206 helicopter taking off on a tourist flight when it suddenly started going out of control.
The helicopter with six people on board lost control and crashed into the building
Videos show the crashed helicopter on top of a nearby roof after falling from the sky
The plane crashed and crashed into the side of a building, where it became wedged between the structure and an antenna.
A second video showed the pilot climbing out of the helicopter and holding onto a ladder attached to the antenna.
Residents quickly arrived on scene and helped residents to safety.
The Medellín Fire Department deployed several cranes to remove the helicopter from the site on Tuesday morning.
The helicopter flight is part of a dining experience offered by Hangar 45, a restaurant in the Medellín neighborhood of Manrique.
Dangling high in the air, everyone on board somehow managed to get out and survive
The video shows the helicopter taking off from the roof and everything seems fine
…but he almost immediately starts to lose control and starts spinning around in the air
…then he completely loses control and starts falling, as if he were heading towards the building
Customers pay about $887 for a 12- to 15-minute flight from Olaya Herrera Airport to the restaurant, where they are greeted with a cocktail.
All helicopter flights have been suspended as authorities investigate the cause of the accident.
Luisa Osorio and her boyfriend Francisco Salas told Noticias Caracol that they joined the flight to record content for social media networks to promote her singing career and his YouTube channel and thought they would not make it out alive.
‘We have moved on. Literally when it went up, it couldn’t quite do it,” Osorio said. “It started spinning, it started spinning really fast and we said, ‘We’re going to die here.’