Helicopter crashes at Livermore training site
Two people injured in crash; both are expected to live
LIVERMORE >> A Pacific Gas & Electric helicopter crashed Wednesday morning at one of the utility provider's training sites, injuring two men, according to the Livermore Police Department.
The crash happened about 9:55 a.m. at a PG&E training facility on the 7200 block of National Drive, according to Azenith Smith, a Livermore police spokesperson. The facility is on the west side of town just north of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in an area marked by several factories and industrial buildings.
Two men, including the pilot, were injured in the crash, Smith said. Both were taken to a hospital complaining of pain; their injuries were not believed to be serious.
In a statement, PG&E said that the helicopter — a Bell 407, operated by a contractor — was taking part in a training exercise at its Livermore Training Facility when it crashed in a parking lot next to some PG&E training poles. It added that “the safety of our customers, communities and coworkers is PG&E's primary responsibility.”
Officials did not offer any more details on what preceded the crash.
The training facility sits on a 35-acre campus along National Drive in Livermore. It's where newly-hired employees are trained to become line workers, according to the utility provider's website. The facility includes numerous 40-foot poles that trainees must learn to climb, along with a gravel training area the size of 10 football fields.
The helicopter appeared to come to rest east of a helicopter landing pad on the campus, said Pat Krausgrill, who works next door as a safety officer for Jifco and saw the aftermath of the crash.
Helicopters can routinely be seen flying over the training site — hoisting power line workers into the air from a cable suspended from the bottom of the aircraft, Krausgrill said. Often, the helicopters practice lowering workers onto the myriad training power poles on the sprawling campus.