‘This was an engine failure’: Veteran pilot offers preliminary take on deadly Chatsworth helicopter crash

Veteran helicopter pilot and former news reporter Zoey Tur is offering a preliminary assessment of the deadly helicopter crash in Chatsworth, suggesting that audio recorded shortly before the aircraft went down may provide clues about what happened.

Tur, who became known for covering major breaking-news events from the skies over Los Angeles, said the audio appeared to capture warning signs consistent with an engine failure. However, the cause of the crash has not been officially determined, and federal investigators are examining the circumstances surrounding the incident.

“If you listen, you could hear the low rotor RPM annunciator horn going off. You could also hear the engine rev down. This was an engine failure, and slow response into entering an auto -rotation by PiC. No survivors,” they posted after the crash.


Tur's comments came as investigators began examining the helicopter crash that killed three people and injured another in Chatsworth on Tuesday evening.

Tur later responded to a question about autorotation and the helicopter's altitude at the time of the incident. Asked whether the aircraft appeared to be flying particularly low before the crash, Tur said the helicopter was hovering when the suspected engine failure occurred.

“They were in a hover at the time of the engine failure. That puts you in a disadvantage once the horn goes off. You need to drop the collective advance the cyclist so you get forward airspeed and perform a safe auto rotation. He may have been low.”


Autorotation is a emergency condition of helicopter flight during which the main rotor of a helicopter is driven only by aerodynamic forces with no power from the engine, explais skybrary.

In this manuovere helicopter to descend using airflow through its rotor system after a loss of engine power. Tur's comments suggest that the aircraft's low altitude and hover position could have reduced the available time for the pilot to respond if an engine failure occurred.

However, Tur's assessment is not an official finding about the cause of the accident.The comments come as federal authorities begin investigating the Chatsworth crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation, while the Federal Aviation Administration is expected to examine regulatory and licensing issues.