National Transportation Safety Board investigators are combing through the aftermath of Tuesday’s helicopter crash in Seattle. Seattle television stations KOMO and KING leased the aircraft jointly. Pilot Gary Pfitzner and news photographer Bill Strohman died on impact. The copter came down on Broad Street just outside KOMO’s studio near the iconic Space Needle.

The crash set three cars on fire. The driver of one is in critical condition in the burn unit at Harborview Medical Center. Bystanders told KOMO the helicopter’s engines didn’t sound right just before the crash. The nearby Space Needle did not open Tuesday, its Facebook page says, out of respect for the dead and injured.

PRP