At least 3 killed as helicopter crashes into house in California
NEWPORT BEACH, California -- At least three people were killed when a helicopter crashed into a house in southern California Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
The crash was reported around 4:45 p.m. ET in Newport Beach, about a block from the beach.
The aircraft struck the yard and wall of the home. A piece of the tail rotor was seen lodged in the tiled roof of a home across the street.
PHOTOS: Deadly helicopter crash in California
The Robinson R44 light helicopter normally seats four people. Newport Beach police said there were four people on the aircraft and it does not initially appear as if anyone on the ground was injured.
The helicopter is based out of John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California.
A woman who lives in the neighborhood heard the crash and ran outside to witness the immediate aftermath.
"I thought it was falling on my home," she told Eyewitness News. "It was just this intense loud noise. It sounded like a train coming through."
She ran outside and saw a chaotic and gruesome sight.
"I put my hand on the back of the helicopter and started praying over them. Because I knew at that point there weren't any survivors."
She said she knows the people who live in the home where the helicopter crash. They were home at the time, but in a back room and were not injured, she said.
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