CARLSBAD, Calif. — A helicopter crash that killed two men at a California airport occurred as the pilot was practicing landings.
The San Diego County medical examiner’s office says the helicopter’s tail struck the ground during a landing Wednesday and it spun out of control at McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad. Both men aboard died at the scene.
The medical examiner identified the pilot as 65-year-old Bruce Allen Erickson. American Bank of Montana confirmed Thursday that Erickson was its chairman and CEO. Also killed was his friend, 60-year-old Wayne Frank Lewis of Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California.
The bank’s website says Erickson had more than 25,000 hours of flight time and ratings to fly various types of airplanes and helicopters. The Bozeman-based bank has branches in Whitefish, Livingston, Big Sky and Big Timber.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash of the Airbus AS350 helicopter.