Monday, December 23

Helicopter carrying tourists spins out of control and crashes into building

Onlookers could only watch in horror as the helicopter smashed into a building and became stuck between the wall and the antenna on Monday evening.

All six people inside the chopper survived but had to be rescued from a restaurant rooftop in the Colombian city of Medellin.

American tourist Francisco Salas, 36, is heard on the phone to the emergency services speaking in both Spanish and English.

‘I’ve been in a helicopter crash. We are very high up and waiting for the police and rescue team,’ he says in the footage.

For 45 minutes, Salas had one arm around a woman ‘with a lot of body weight who did not have the strength to support herself’ and his other arm against the helicopter.

The Texan businessman also said he used his phone to call his mum and dad to ‘say goodbye, say thank you to everyone.’

A helicopter dangling on the side of a building after crash.
The smash led to a major rescue operation involving more than 70 emergency responders (Picture: JAM PRESS)

Other people on board the horror flight were Francisco’s girlfriend Luisa Osorio, who is a Colombian national; two women from Costa Rica, Sandy Villalobos Marin, 34, and Karen Rivera Picada, 36; and Jaime Andres Echeverri, a Colombian national and co-pilot of the chopper.

Echeverri suffered a fractured leg in the accident.

The pilot was named as Brian Michel Alvarez, 32.

The Bell 206 chopper was normally used to fly tourists over Colombia’s second city for short trips lasting between 12 and 15 minutes.

An investigation into the crash continues.

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