POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – At least two people are confirmed dead and four others have been hospitalized after a rescue helicopter crashed in Florida Monday morning. A longtime flight paramedic with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and a civilian died when the helicopter became distressed and went down, authorities said.
The sheriff’s office announced Monday afternoon that Captain Terryson Jackson died along with a female civilian who was on the ground inside her home when a Broward County Sheriff’s Office Department of Fire Rescue and Emergency Services helicopter crashed in Pompano Beach, WPBF News reported.
Broward County Sheriff Fire Rescue pilot Daron Roche and firefighter paramedic Mikael Chaguaceda along with two civilians were also injured in the crash and are being treated at Broward Hospital North with non-life-threatening injuries.
A video from BNO News shows the helicopter smoking and then spinning out of control as it falls from the sky and crashes. Several fire trucks responded to quell the blaze after impact, according to WSVN.
Law enforcement authorities have closed roads in the area of 1201 NW 6th Avenue, the site of the crash, and are requesting that people stay away from the scene as the arduous investigation is underway, Fox News reported.
“At approximately 8:46 a.m., emergency personnel responded to a call of an aircraft alert located southwest of the Pompano Beach Airpark. The helicopter involved in the crash is a BSO Fire Rescue helicopter,” the Broward County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a statement on social media.
Sheriff Gregory Tony said the rescue helicopter was dispatched to a life-threatening emergency when it developed an on board fire, which eventually disabled the aircraft, causing the fatal crash.
According to WPBF, Jackson worked in Broward County for 19 years, beginning in March 2004 in Deerfield Beach, then transferred to the sheriff’s office in October 2011 when the agencies merged.
