Couple survives emergency helicopter crash landing

A day at the MBNA motorcycle races nearly resulted in tragedy for a Las Vegas helicopter pilot and his wife Sunday after a blown engine forced them to make a crash landing in the Las Vegas Speedway parking lot.

Mel Larson, a former vice president at the Circus Circus hotel-casino who now works as a helicopter pilot, and his wife, Marilyn, were leaving the Speedway in their Bell 222 helicopter just before 4 p.m.

They were taking off from a grassy area in front of a speedway administrative building just west of the facility's main grandstand when the left engine malfunctioned, Larson said.

"It blew as we were taking off and that's the worst possible time," Larson said. "I saw an open area and I didn't want to crash into any cars so I pulled everything back and made it over the cars. After that there just wasn't enough power left and we went down."

Larson crash landed the helicopter in a handicapped parking lot that was mostly empty, about 200 feet from the grassy take-off area. Upon impact the helicopter suffered heavy damage and sprang a fuel leak.

Speedway emergency teams, the Clark County Fire Department, and a Nellis Air Force Base emergency team responded to the crash to smother the fuel spill with water, dirt and foam to prevent a fire.

Both Larson and his wife were taken to University Medical Center where they were treated and released for minor injuries. Two bystanders also suffered minor injuries from flying debris.

John Hackney, a 30-year-old heavy crane operator, pulled the Larsons from the wreckage despite the danger the fuel leak posed.

"I saw it go down and I didn't think," Hackney said. "I just went on instinct. I guess it could have blown, but I didn't give it a second thought."

Lewis Hackney, John's father, said he was surprised to see his son running toward the wreck.

"I saw it go down and I threw my wife behind a car," Lewis Hackney said. "Then I saw my son running over there saying we had to get those people out, and the next thing I knew I was following him."

Witnesses said that the helicopter's rotor struck the ground first causing the helicopter to crash almost upside down.

"It dipped to the right after it took off and then the wheels touched down for a second before it bounced back into the air," Lewis Hackney said. "Then it started to twist and the blade hit the ground and it went down."

Others leaving the race early said they were stunned as the crash unfolded before them.

"We were leaving the race early and I said to my husband, 'Look how fast those things spin. What if they came off?,'" said Julie Levine, who was at the races with her husband, John, and baby daughter. "When we saw it going down my husband just grabbed the baby out of the stroller and we ran."

John Levine said that he felt very lucky.

"If this had been a NASCAR race the whole lot would have been full of cars," Levine said. "I saw the pilot's face when it started to go down and you could see he was really surprised."

archive