FAA: Sight-seeing helicopter landed in parking lot, ‘rolled into bushes’ in Myrtle Beach

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) – New details have been released on a helicopter that crash-landed Saturday in a parking lot in Myrtle Beach, with four people inside.

The Myrtle Beach Fire Department responded to the incident after 5 p.m. in the AVX parking lot of 17th Avenue South.

According to the preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration, the helicopter was attempting to land at the helipad when it “landed in a parking lot and rolled into bushes.”

The owner of the helicopter, Jeremy Bass, said the pilot experienced a partial loss of engine power. He added that the pilot performed a successful autorotation to bring the helicopter down.

Bass said this is the first time the company has ever had an engine problem.

The report shows there was a pilot and three passengers on board at the time. Myrtle Beach Fire Capt. Jon Evans said all four people on board had very minor injuries and signed a waiver stating that they didn’t need to go to the hospital.

Picture from the scene.(Myrtle Beach Fire Department)

WMBF News reached out to the National Transportation Safety Board, who confirmed that it was a sight-seeing helicopter that was involved and that the incident has been classified as an accident.

The FAA is gathering information about the accident and another report with additional information will be released in a couple of weeks. The NTSB state that it usually takes about a year for the full report on a crash to be completed.