Probe looks for anomalies in Seattle chopper crash

SEATTLE (AP) — Federal investigators plan to reconstruct the wreckage of a fatal helicopter accident to determine what caused the aircraft to crash at a busy intersection near Seattle’s Space Needle, killing two men on board and seriously burning a third on the ground.

A team from Illinois-based Helicopters Inc., which owned the aircraft, also is in the state assisting with the probe, Dennis Hogenson with the National Transportation Safety Board said today.

Investigators are poring over pilot, maintenance and company records, and they will recreate the crash scene to look for anomalies, he said. Wreckage from the helicopter has been moved to a hangar in Auburn, about 30 miles south of Seattle.

It may be months before federal investigators know what caused the KOMO-TV news chopper to hit the pavement and burst into flames Tuesday, setting three vehicles ablaze and spewing burning fuel down the street.