The pilot and another individual suffered non-life threatening injuries as a low-flying copter crashed at a PG&E training facility in Livermore.
We dump on PG&E plenty around here, but our thoughts go out to the two employees of the utility who were injured in a Wednesday as a PG&E helicopter crashed in Livermore, according to NBC Bay Area. The crash was at a company training facility, and from the numerous social media reports and videos seen below, the damage was contained entirely to within the facility, and the two people suffered non-life threatening injuries.
UPDATE: Two people suffer non-life threatening injuries after helicopter goes down at PG&E facility in Livermore, fire department says. https://t.co/awC5XzY51y pic.twitter.com/2rVptVEU0S
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) May 11, 2022
All of this just happened at about 10 a.m. Wednesday morning, so some of the details are still coming together, and are conflicting. NBC Bay Area is on the scene, and reported below that “Two people taken to hospital with unknown injuries.” But the Alameda Fire Department is also on the scene, and tweeted about 90 minutes later that “One patient was transported to the hospital..”
*DEVELOPING* Chopper down at PGE training facility in Livermore after clipping a “cable” according to witness. Two people taken to hospital with unknown injuries. pic.twitter.com/v9sADOS4qT
— Bob Redell (@BobNBC) May 11, 2022
But a just-released statement from PG&E, picked up by NBC Bay Area, confirms a version of events that both were hospitalized.
PG&E confirms that the helicopter crash this morning in Livermore was a contractor helicopter performing training on PG&E property. PG&E says the 2 people inside the helicopter were hospitalized but are not reported to have life threatening injuries @nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/WlKuu19cpP
— Alyssa Goard (@AlyssaMGoard) May 11, 2022
“The helicopter was transporting two people,” PG&E’s statement said. “Both occupants were transported to area hospitals.”
The pilot and a person outside the helicopter were taken to the hospital with unknown injuries. The aircraft crashed at the PG&E Electric Safety Academy in Livermore. According to their website: “This facility is for the PG&E coworkers who build out the electric infrastructure…” pic.twitter.com/m5b7dwg6V3
— brian yuen (@newsfroggie) May 11, 2022
This facility is technically called the Livermore Electric Safety Academy. According to a PG&E site description, “This facility is for the PG&E coworkers who build out the electric infrastructure to a brand-new subdivision, whether it is transmission or distribution,” and “Additionally, this facility supports five apprentice programs and provides ongoing refresher training, pre-employment assessments and PowerPathway courses.”
Pretty sure the downed helicopter in Livermore is at the PG&E training facility out there, they have a helicopter flying low around there pretty often pic.twitter.com/PQQcAJWvr1
— Joseph Paiz (@joe_paiz) May 11, 2022
The Bay Area News Group report on the crash puts it more plainly and adds some detail that “The PG&E Electric Safety Academy exists on a 35-acre campus along National Drive in Livermore, and it’s where newly-hired employees are trained to become line workers,,” and that “the facility includes numerous 40-foot poles that trainees must regularly climb, along with a gravel training area the size of 10 football fields.”
A PG&E helicopter has gone down during a training flight in Livermore https://t.co/SHg1R4da99
— kcranews (@kcranews) May 11, 2022
This is a breaking story and may be updated.
Related: Video Captures Moment That Helicopter Drops Enormous A/C Unit On Downtown Oakland Street [SFist]
Image: @AlamedaCoFire via Twitter
