In the early hours of Wednesday morning, an individual attempted to start a fleet of helicopters at Sacramento Executive Airport. The person could only start one and crashed while trying to fly away.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Aviation Administration, National Transportation Safety Board, and the Sacramento Police Department are all investigating the incident that occurred around 0500 PST.
Local news KRCA reported that a person managed to start and almost fly away with a Bell 429 heavy-lift helicopter. The person, perhaps inexperienced, crashed the helicopter.
It's possible that there was another motive:
"If someone wanted to take an aircraft for a joyride, someone who wanted to take an aircraft to do some other criminal activity or damage to other property, terrorism would be at the other end of the scope," Special Agent in Charge Sean Reagan said.
KRCA tweeted images from the airport of the wreckage.
Capitol Helicopters, the owner of the Bell 429, released this statement about the incident:
"Sometime early this morning several helicopters operated by our company were vandalized by an individual unknown to us, and one aircraft was severely damaged. All our employees are safe, and we do not believe that anyone was injured in today's events. This incident is currently under investigation by several state and federal authorities. We are hopeful that the people responsible are located quickly. We have no further information to report at this time. We appreciate the support from all the agencies and individuals involved."
"This investigation is in its early stages," Sacramento Police told The Sacramento Bee, "and this information is preliminary as detectives work to learn exactly what occurred."
