An aviation influencer, known for his death-defying stunts, has been identified as the owner, pilot and one of five people injured when a helicopter crashed amid beachfront hotels in Huntington Beach, according to media reports Sunday.
Jerry Miller of Redlands confirmed in a telephone call that his son-in-law, Eric Nixon, was piloting the helicopter when it crashed, the Orange County Register reported.
“He’s in the hospital with some broken ribs, crushed vertebrae and several bruises,” Miller told the Register.
The Mirror US described Nixon as “a self-styled aviation enthusiast known to thousands online for his heart-stopping stunts – [who] has spent years posting footage of himself performing jaw-dropping maneuvers across the skies of the American West.”
Other reports noted Nixon’s affinity “for operating at dangerously high speeds and low altitudes.”
In addition to Nixon and another person in the helicopter with him, a child and two adults were injured on the ground. All five were hospitalized, but no information was released about their injuries.
Authorities have not identified any of the people injured in the crash, which occurred at 2:09 p.m. on the 21000 block of Pacific Coast Highway in a beach parking lot between Twin Dolphins Drive and Beach Boulevard.
Videos from the scene, taken by bystanders, showed the helicopter spinning until it wound up lodged in palm trees near a hotel where the Waterfront Beach Resort and Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa are located.
The chopper was a 1980 Bell 222 helicopter that took off from Redlands Municipal Airport, the Aviation Safety Network reported.
An event, Cars and Copters on the Coast, was taking place in the beach parking lots in front of the hotels. The helicopter was associated with the event scheduled for Sunday, said Huntington Beach Police Department spokesman Corbin Carson.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board have been notified of the crash, Carson said.