killed on impact, beloved komo photographer bill strothman and pilot gary pfitzner. >> it was taking off. and it just kind of wobbled and spun. and it started going down sideways on to the street. >> reporter: when firefighters arrived, they found two cars and a pickup truck engulfed in fire and a small river of flaming fuel running down the street. one motorist reportedly jumped out of his burning car, critically injured by flames. >> i saw the guy coming out of the car with his body on fire. and i saw also the truck that was hit. >> reporter: veteran award-winning cameraman bill strothman was a gentle and wonderful family man who had recently retired, but came back to work part-time. he and pilot gary pfitzner, were flying a backup chopper, while the station's normal helicopter was in the shop. on the air, horrified and emotional anchors were left to report on their friends and the catastrophe, right outside their door. >> as we have reached the point where we can talk about the two people that we have lost. this will be a very difficult time. >> reporter: we are inside komo, just

gary pfitzner and bill strothman. komo's news team made the announcement. >> this will be a very difficult time. >> it is a tough day already, and this is even tougher to be able to see this picture and talk about bill strothman. >> we know his lovely wife nora bill's son dan is one of our photographers. >> reporter: late yesterday, his son spoke with komo tv. >> he was a great photographer, but he was just a great person. my mom, she is definitely having the hardest time. she and my dad were planning for retirement. they just bought a little place. so they had finally gotten their little piece of paradise they were planning on sailing off into their sunset up there. >> reporter: the exact cause of the crash is under investigation. for "cbs this morning," rob munoz, seattle. >>> and a poignant image captured shortly before the tragedy. a photographer from another seattle station king tv spotted the komo helicopter flying across the horizon in front of a rainbow. >>> and a surprise turn this morning in the murder trial

the pilot gary pfitzner and veteran photographer bill strothman were killed. strothman's son dan who is also a photographer on tv is still trying to come to grips with his father's death. >> he was a great photographer but he was just a great person. >> reporter: the helicopter for the seattle station komo-tv was lifting off from this rooftop near the city's famous space needle when witnesses say the chopper began to tilt. the national transportation safety board and the faa are still investigating the cause. >> our investigative team are looking into the mechanical as well as the environment as well as the pilot. >> reporter: the mayor plans to examine its policies of permanent helicopter pads. >> we're going to look at how the policies have worked and been implemented in the last several decades going into the '60s. >> reporter: dan said his dad and mom had just bought their retirement dream home. >> they bought their own piece of paradise that they were planning on sailing off into the sun set there, you know. she -- my mom, you know, she's definitely havin

cameraman bill strothman and reporter gary pfitzner were kill kill killed. and flames from the crash engulfed a car where the man was taken to the hospital with 20% burns to his body. >>> and the helicopter dove over the trees and crashed on the other side of the street there. >> we have also learned that the helicopter that crashed was actually a loaner vehicle. kom o's regular chopper is in st. louis getting the technology upgrate grades, and coming up wshw e will have more details as they sift through the wreckage to try to to find out what happened. >>> it has been ten days since that malaysian airliner vanis d vanished. but one nation is offering up information that it has known from day one. >> well, vance, thailand's military saying that it may have picked up flight 370 on the day it disappeared. the thai officials say they have picked up radar blips of unidentified plane going to the strait of malacca not long after the plane's signal was lost. they said they did not pay much attention to the plane, because it was not a threat to thailand, but it has

killed on impact, the two in the chopper, beloved komo photographer bill strothman and pilot gary pfitzner>> we have reached the point here where we can talk about the two people that we have lost. this will be a very difficult time. >> reporter: investigators say that they hope to have a preliminary report in as little as five days, though they caution that answers may take much, much longer. lana zak, abc news, seattle. back to you, john and marci. >> lana, thank you. >>> federal officials -- health officials say a drexler university student died last week from the same rare type of meningitis that caused an outbreak at princeton university last year. sophomore stephanie ross had been in close contact with students from princeton about a week before she got sick. the concern now is that despite a massive vaccination effort, the strain might still exist at princeton. >>> a new report shows that women are being hit harder by alzheimer's disease than men. the alzheimer's association study says women have a one in six chance of developing the condition. that's compared to 1 in 11 for men. th

bill strothman was an award- winning photographer from komo- tv. he was about to retire. a memorial with flowers was created to the crash site to remember strothman and the pilot, gary pfitzner. >> everybody got to know and love bill. but i got to marry him. [ laughter ] >> i was the really lucky one. he was the best father you can ask for. >> a medical examiner said both men died of blunt force injuries. investigators say a large portion of the helicopter burned simply gone now. still, they do plan to reconstruct the recovered wreckage to determine what happened. >>> a former government employee in new jersey has admitted to an unusual theft. he says he stole $460,000 in quarters. thomas ricca worked as a building inspector. he had access to the room where they kept the money checked from parking meters. he helped himself to the quarters on four separate occasions. he got 5 years' probation and must pay back the money. >>> scientists are calling it the chicken from hell. >> it's the newest thing in ancient animals. paleontologists put together bones they found at three d

komo tv has identified those killed as long-time photographer bill strothman and pilot gary fitzner. >> at times like this we are reminded that the media, like of many us, are also public servants. >> a 38-year-old man in one of the cars struck by the helicopter was taken to a hospital in critical condition. >> we're looking at everything. we're looking at the environment, the weather, the pilot, the operators in the helicopter as well as the helicopter itself. >> reporter: an investigation into what could have led to this deadly crash is under way. now, ntsb says the preliminary report could take as much as a week. the final report as much as a year. we're live in seattle, i'm janet kim. raj, back to you. >> all right, janet, thank you very much. you can hear it's still an active scene there near that helicopter crash. >>> tonight nbc news has learned that someone on board that missing malaysian airliner manually programmed a u-turn. sources say the changes were made at least 12 minutes before the co-pilot signed off with air traffic control. meanwhile, thailand's military says an u

komo photographer bill strothman and pilot gary pfitzner were killed.d slammed into his squad car. turns out that pickup had been hit by a semitruck and the force sent it airborne. amazingly the trooper and the pick jum driver didn't suffer any major injuries. >> incredible video. >>> toyota ready to accept a huge settlement with the department of justice. abc news learned prosecutors have been investigating the company for years over cars that suddenly sped up. they want to know whether toyota misled regulators and investigators about what it knew of the problem. the company will now pay hundreds of millions to avoid criminal charges. >>> the same investigators are now pursuing general motors over a defect linked to 12 deaths. ceo mary barra apologized for the deaths and its delay in the recall of the cars with the faulty ignition switch. barra promises to fix the company culture that allowed the problem to happen. >>> lottery officials tell us at least two winning tickets were sold in last night's mega millions drawing. the jackpot was worth an announ

camera man bill strothman had worked at k-o-m-o since 1979. gary fitzner was a veteran pilot. a spokesman with the n-t-s-b says witnesses reported hearing an "unusual noise" from the chopper before the crash. there is growing evidence that the disappearance of a malaysian jetliner was an intentional act. experts now say it appears the plane had already made a pre- programmed turn toward the indian ocean, moments *before the co-pilot said good night to air traffic controllers. two minutes later, the plane's transponder was shut off. now, we learn, people in the maldives islands, in the indian ocean, reported seeing a low- flying plane, just hours later. there's no way to know whether it was the malaysian plane, flying low to avoid radar. officials in thailand also revealed radar picked up a plane about the same time the jet disappeared. a spokesman said that wasn't shared earlier because malaysia's first request for information was not precise. russia has announced it will take over crimea, despite the disapproval from the u-s and europe. russia's parliament gave president vlad

after a local news helicopter crashed into the street, pilot, gary and veteran photographer, bill strothman were killed. his son, dan, is still trying to come to grips with his father's death. >> he was a great photographer, but he was a great person. >> the helicopter for seattle station, komo-tv was lifting off the rooftop. when witnesses say the chopper began to tilt. the national transportation safety board and the faa are still investigating the cause. >> our investigative team are looking into mechanical as well as the environment as well as the pilot. >> the city plans to re-examine its policy, the permitting landing pad. >> it's what we will look into. how the history of these policies have been implemented over the last several decades, going back to the 1960s. >> dan says his dad and mom had just bought their dream retirement home. >> they had gotten their piece of paradise they were planning on sailing up into their sunset. so she, my mom, is just definitely having a hardest time. >> the wreckage is now being relocated to a hanger 30 miles away where federal officials will contin

meanwhile, komo colleagues, bill strothman and gary pfitzner's are coming to terms with their deaths.s much more of a reflective newsroom, as everyone realizes what we've lost. >> i think the shock has kind of worn off to give way to realization that something terrible happened just a couple hundred yards away from us. >> komo viewers have been leaving flowers and well wishes at the station and near seattle space needle where the helicopter crashed. >>> the new revelations about the crack cocaine use by toronto mayor rob ford. ford was running through toronto city hall yesterday after police released the first description of the video on which ford was seen inhaling a vapor. the police report said that vapor quote appears to be a narcotic. ford has admitted to smoking crack in a drunken stew more. police claim ford was given the chance to review the video but refused because of the conditions being offered. >>> all right. now for some good news. today is the first day of spring. >> choir of angels. >> feels so good to us, say. for most of us, it arrives, not a moment too soon. >> got

the pilot gary pfitzner and veteran journalist bill strothman were killed in that crash. >>> and in new jersey, the bodies of the four victims killed in that massive motel fire on the jersey shore, they have been recovered. police say some of the 40 people inside that hotel at the time of the blaze were living there after being displaced by super storm sandy. a full investigation is under way. >>> and finally, a big night for our very own robin roberts. she was honored during a halftime at the atlanta hawks/new orleans pelicans game at the phillips arena friday in atlanta. the hawks' owner said robin embodies what it means to be a champion and awarded her with the be greater award for her courage, spirit and philanthropy. robin was a -- with atlanta native and former hawks dominique wilkins who wore robin's 21 from her playing days at southeastern university. robin promised to make a $10,000 donation to the be the match organization if wilkins sank a three-pointer. this is a guy, he's a hall-of-famer in basketball. >> i know who he is. >> number two in all-time three-pointers. over 700

news photographer bill strothman and pilot gary pfitzner were killed in the crash. news community is very, very tight. so our hearts go out to our colleagues and friends here at c komo. live in seattle, back to you. >> thank you. quickly, as you mentioned, the news community there, interesting thing about that newsroom, having worked in it, it's all windows. many people there working saw the helicopter tumble down the side of the building. it's just devastating. also the son of the helicopter photographer works there. >> reporter: right. his son works here. my husband works here, so i called him right away. we were panic stricken. we just had been covering the water main break, sharing aerials and listening to komo radio hearing colleagues talking about what they saw out of the windows. absolutely surreal. it gives us chills. it's incredibly sad. >> we feel your pain. we send our sympathies. >> thank you very much. >>> in the meantime, 6:16 right now. take a look at microclimate forecast. beautiful last day of winter, feels like spring. but rain in the works. you sa

. >> reporter: killed on impact, beloved veteran photographer bill strothman and pilot gary pfitzner. >> we just can't believe he's gone. >> reporter: horrified staff members watched it all out the station's windows. anchors could barely contain themselves reporting the news that their friends were gone. >> we have reached the point here where we can talk about the two people that we have lost. this will be a very difficult time. >> it is a tough day already and this is even tougher. >> reporter: as the wreckage was hauled away late monday an ntsb team began its investigation and a close-knit family of journal ists did their best to honor the two they lost, including strothman's own son, also a komo photographer. >> i'm not nearly as good as my dad, like i never will be. he was able to find the human connection in everything he did. >> he was just a gentleman, a true gentleman. >> reporter: so, so hard for people here. the cause will take some time to figure out, but already investigators are zeroing in on one clue. eyewitnesses said they heard a noise and the helicopter began to rota

the photographer, bill strothman, had worked in the komo newsroom since 1979.red from full-time work in strait but still free lanced for the station. >> my heart was shredded. he was something i had worked with for 30 years. somebody who was an extraordinary photojournalist, a passionate guy, a great friend. >> friends say gary fptitzner was an experienced. >> and i know he was doing everything he could to try to maintain or gain control of the aircraft. >> they say it's difficult to cover a story that hits so close to home. the ntsb say it could be months before they determine the exact cause of the crash. >>> russian forces are taking over more military bases in crimea. the russian's military is joining with forces at the basis. this follows treaty signed by president putin for crimea to leave ukraine and join russia. joe biden is meeting with eales allies and says russia is on the wrong path. >> there are reports that a ukrainian soldier was killed by a base in crimea. >>> republican senator rand paul will speak at uc berkeley today. senator paul was invited

two people killed including the pilot, gary pfitzner and photographer bill strothman.ld, richard newman was in his car on the ground whenç the helicopter crashed and he is in the hospital in critical condition. >> remember the new jersey teenager who captured headlines for suing her parents? she is dropping her lawsuit against them. 18-year-old rachel canning moved out of her parents house last october. her parents say she refused to follow their basic house rules. the teenager went on to sue for child support and tuition. she now says she wants to turn over a new leaf. >>> new information overnight. crimea's self-defense forces -- a prorussian group -- attacked the ukrainian navy headquarters and raises the russian flag over this. this asç russia's military starts large scale fighter jet and bomber exercises in the northwest part of that country. ukrainian officials are now being shut out of crimea on the same day president putin signed documents to annex crimea. secretary of state john kerry had harsh words for the russian leader. listen to this. >> his extraordina